Ostatní non-fiction

'Dear Ta-ra-ra, It surprises us to find that a girl sufficiently educated to write and spell well should be so deplorably ignorant of the common rules of society to think that she may go out alone with a young man in his canoe' - "Girl's Own Paper", 1895. "Never Kiss a Man in a Canoe" is a fascinating glimpse into our social past and harks back to a time when agony aunts played a pivotal role in society, advising men and women on love, sex, relationships and other taboo subjects. From advice on the immorality of reading a crime novel or riding a bicycle to Sunday school, to tips on beauty, etiquette and how to make a boy into a man, this wonderful book is a slap in the face for everyone accustomed to the politically correct advice of today, and is a tribute to the manners of the past t

Through the research of Dr Lipton and other leading-edge scientists, stunning new discoveries have been made about the interaction between your mind and body and the processes by which cells receive information. It shows that genes and DNA do not control our biology, that instead DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our thoughts. Using simple language, illustrations, humour, and everyday examples, he demonstrates how the new science of Epigenetics is revolutionising our understanding of the link between mind and matter and the profound effects it has on our personal lives and the collective life of our species. This paperback edition of "The Biology of Belief" fully updates and revises the material from the bestselling orig

Merging cognitive science with educational agenda, Gardner shows how ill-suited our minds and natural patterns of learning are to current educational materials, practices, and institutions, and makes an eloquent case for restructuring our schools. This reissue includes a new introduction by the author.

Did you know that an assassin is a hashish-eater and a yokel a country woodpecker? That Dr Mesmer mesmerised patients back to health or that Samuel Pepys enjoyed a good game of handicap? While we're at it, what have spondulics to do with spines or lawyers with avocadoes? In "It's a Wonderful Word", bestselling author Albert Jack collects over 500 of the strangest, the funniest-sounding and the most downright delightful words in the English language and traces them back to their often puzzling origins. While brushing up on your slang or nifty, discover why bastards should resent travelling salesmen, why sheets should remain on tenterhooks and why you should never set down a tumbler before finishing your drink. From aplomb to zilch and from claptrap to quango, Albert Jack's addictive ane

What does history really consists of? Centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - sleeping, eating, having sex, endeavouring to get comfortable. And where did all these normal activities take place? At home. This was the thought that inspired Bill Bryson to start a journey around the rooms of his own house, an 1851 Norfolk rectory, to consider how the ordinary things in life came to be. And what he discovered are surprising connections to anything from the Crystal Palace to the Eiffel Tower, from scurvy to body-snatching, from bedbugs to the Industrial Revolution, and just about everything else that has ever happened, resulting in one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live.

Takes you through various words you need to survive, shows how and why they work, and steers you past various pitfalls and potential embarrassments of speaking French in France. This title covers various areas of everyday life from eating and drinking to travel, work and, crucially, and, swearing and sounding like a teenager.
Things you didn't know about France: you burnt Joan of Arc!; smuggling live chickens into rugby matches is patriotic; how many times to kiss on the cheek; where not to cross the road; French guns don't go 'bang'; what do you call a party? bon appetit is vulgar; a six-pack is a bar of chocolate; the dangers of being called Peter or Penny; your smallest finger is your 'ear' finger; the importance of Wednesdays; how to tip and when to celebrate Christmas? Forge

The King James Bible or Authorized Version (1611) comprises the Old Testament, the Apocrypha and the New Testament, from God's creation of the heaven and earth and the fall of man in Genesis, through the life of Jesus Christ, to St John the Divine's foretelling of the end of the world and God's final judgment in Revelation.

Among the most influential texts of all time and the cornerstone of the Christian faith, the King James Bible is the work of the great scholars and theologians of the early seventeenth century and reflects their desire for greater stability in the Christian religion. They revised and retranslated existing versions, including that of William Tyndale, to create a standardized Bible that would be accessible to all speakers and readers of English. Definitiv

Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller: but even when he stays safely in his own study at home, he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. Bill Bryson's challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry and particle physics, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. It's not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the Earth, or what a black hole is, or wher

In this completely revised and updated edition of international bestseller WATCHING THE ENGLISH, anthropologist Kate Fox takes a revealing look at the quirks, habits and foibles of the English people. Now with new survey data to add weight to her original fieldwork findings, and more extensive field-research and experiments to back up earlier observations, Kate Fox has deciphered yet more enigmatic behaviour codes, adding new rules, new subcultures, new chapters and over 100 updates. If you're English, this new edition of Kate Fox's acclaimed international bestseller will make you stand back and re-examine everything you take for granted - and if you aren't English you'll finally understand all our peculiar little ways. WATCHING THE ENGLISH has sold more than half a million copies and

Dust off your thinking cap, because it's about to get quizzical!
* Over 4000 questions
* 200 quizzes sorted into easy, medium and difficult
* All topics covered, from pop stars to Death Stars
* Easy-to-find answers, so anyone can be the quizmaster

Quiz me quick!

Q: What's inside this book?
A: More than 200 brand new quizzes covering everything from pop stars to death stars. The rounds are a mixture of themed and potluck and the questions go from friendly teasers to ones that will scramble even an egghead's brains.

Q: Who is it for?
A: You, your mum, your dad, your family and friends, the man down the road and two halves of the crowd at your local. Each quiz provides good clean fun for all. The answers are quick and easy to find so