How to Kill a Language: A Story of Power, Resistance and the Race to Save Our Words
A globe-spanning investigation into the disappearance of languages that asks: what do we lose – culturally, politically, and personally – when a language dies?
Language: history and general works
Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global
*A FINANCIAL TIMES, GUARDIAN AND TLS BOOK OF THE SUMMER*
‘The fascinating story of ancient words … new revelations await’ The Guardian
‘A magisterial feat’ New Scientist
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Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature
‘A hugely entertaining and well-written tour of the links between math and literature. Hart’s lightness of touch and passion for both subjects make this book a delight to read. Bookworms and number-lovers alike will discover much they didn’t know about the creative interplay between stories, structure and sums.’ – Alex Bellos
Snails and Monkey Tails
An entertaining, informative, and elegantly designed guide that makes understanding punctuation marks and symbols simple and fun.
A rollicking linguistic ride for fans of Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Just My Type.
Librorum Ridiculorum: A Compendium of Bizarre Books
A celebration of all the weird and wonderful books to be found at an antiquarian bookshop.
Semicolon: How a misunderstood punctuation mark can improve your writing, enrich your reading and even change your life
‘Fascinating… I loved this book; I really did’ David Crystal, Spectator
A biography of a much misunderstood punctuation mark and a call to arms in favour of clear expression and against stifling grammar rules.
Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society
Raymond Williams’ seminal exploration of the history of meaning of some of the most important words in the English language.
The Speckled People: Large type edition
A deeply moving memoir about a young boy growing up in Dublin and his family’s homesickness for a country they can call their own.
The Keys of Egypt: The Race to Read the Hieroglyphs
A vivid and superbly written account of the unravelling of one of the great intellectual puzzles, set against the backdop of Europe in the Napoleonic era.