Language: history & general works

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Book Cover:  Wordwatching: Field Notes From an Amateur Philologist
By Julian Burnside

We live in a torrent of words - from radio and television, books and newspapers, and now from the internet. But, as Julian Burnside reminds us in this new edition of the best-selling Wordwatching , words are a source both of pleasure and power, and can be deployed for good or for ill.

We live in a torrent of words - from radio and television, books and newspapers, and now from the internet. But, as Julian Burnside reminds us in this new edition of the best-selling Wordwatching , words...

Published: 26/10/2009
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781921640179
RRP: $29.95
Book Cover:  You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Power of Words
By Robert Lane Greene

Why does language move some of us to anxiety or even rage?

For centuries, sticklers have donned the cloak of authority to control how people use words. In this sensational new book, Robert Lane Greene strikes back to defend the fascinating, real-life diversity of this most basic human faculty. Along the way, he corrects Bill Bryson's 'facts' about words, challenges the rhetoric of Lynne Truss's bestselling...

Why does language move some of us to anxiety or even rage?

For centuries, sticklers have donned the cloak of authority to control how people use words. In this sensational new book, Robert Lane Greene...

Published: 03/10/2011
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781863955416
RRP: $24.95
Book Cover: The Last Lingua Franca: The Rise and Fall of World Languages
By Nicholas Ostler

'SWEEPINGLY LEARNED AND ENGAGINGLY GARRULOUS . . .
Sunday Times

'A MUCH-NEEDED CHALLENGE TO CONVENTIONAL WISDOM'
Guardian



'SWEEPINGLY LEARNED AND ENGAGINGLY GARRULOUS . . .
Sunday Times

'A MUCH-NEEDED CHALLENGE TO CONVENTIONAL WISDOM'
Guardian



Published: 11/01/2012
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781846142161
RRP: $19.95
Book Cover:  Planet Word
The story of language from the earliest grunts to Twitter and beyond, Planet Word by J. P. Davidson accompanies the BBC series of the same name, with a forword written by Stephen Fry.
The story of language from the earliest grunts to Twitter and beyond, Planet Word by J. P. Davidson accompanies the BBC series of the same name, with a forword written by Stephen Fry.
Published: 03/10/2011
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9780718157746
RRP: $45.00
Book Cover:  Great Speeches: Words That Made History

A great speech has the power to define the times, to inspire, to stir and to motivate.

This collection of ancient and modern speeches includes the words of activists, politicians, philosophers and scores of  others who have born witness to significant moments from the first century to the twenty-first. Many have themselves made history.

Here you'll find the words of:

A great speech has the power to define the times, to inspire, to stir and to motivate.

This collection of ancient and modern speeches includes the words of activists, politicians, philosophers and scores...

Published: 02/08/2010
Format:
ISBN: 9780143205111
RRP: $19.95
Book Cover:  Why is Q Always Followed by U?: Word Perfect Answers to the Most Asked  Questions About Language
By Michael Quinion

Can you be gruntled ? Who was the original dogsbody ? And why would you have the screaming ab-dabs ?

Long-time word detective Michael Quinion brings us the answers to nearly 200 of the most intriguing questions he's been asked about language over the years. His facts about the quirky meanings and histories behind the slang and language that we all use will delight, amuse and enlighten even the most...

Can you be gruntled ? Who was the original dogsbody ? And why would you have the screaming ab-dabs ?

Long-time word detective Michael Quinion brings us the answers to nearly 200 of the most intriguing...

Published: 01/12/2010
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780141039244
RRP: $22.95
Book Cover: The Last Lingua Franca: English Until the Return of Babel
By Nicholas Ostler

'A lingua franca is a language of convenience.  When it ceases to be convenient – however widespread it has been – it will be dropped, without ceremony, and with little emotion.'
NICHOLAS OSTLER

The Last Lingua Franca is a fascinating and provocative examination of the rise and coming fall of English as the world's language.



'A lingua franca is a language of convenience.  When it ceases to be convenient – however widespread it has been – it will be dropped, without ceremony, and with little emotion.'
NICHOLAS...

Published: 10/12/2010
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781846142154
RRP: $39.95

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21 May 2012
2012 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) - winners

The Australian Book Industry Awards were held in Sydney on Friday night. It was a great night for Penguin with our books taking the top honors in four book categories including the prestigious Book of the Year. Congratulations also to Peg McColl, Kate McCormack and the rights team who won the International (Rights) Award for the second year running for Paul French's book Midnight in Peking. United Book Distributors were again named Distributor of the Year.

Illustrated Book of the Year

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