‘The history of language has never seen anything like this. Ellen’s mobile grammar travelogue, presented with an engaging humour and humility will appeal to anyone with an interest in the way English works – which means all of us. Reality television? This is reality grammar.’ -David Crystal, author of How Language Works

For fans of Gyles Brandreth, Susie Dent and Bill Bryson, an unconventional guide to the English language drawn from the cross-country adventures of an itinerant grammarian.

When Ellen Jovin first walked outside her Manhattan apartment and set up a folding table with a sign reading “The Grammar Table,” it took about 30 seconds to get her first visitor. Everyone had a question for her. The Grammar Table was such a hit – attracting the attention of The New York Times, NPR, and CBS Evening News – that Ellen soon hit the road, travelling across the U.S. to answer questions from students, retired editors, bickering couples, and anyone else who uses words in this world.

In Rebel with a Clause, Jovin shares the heartwarming and humorous stories of the people she meets, and what is most on their minds, grammatically speaking – from the Oxford comma to the places prepositions can go, the likely lifespan of ‘whom,’ semicolonphobia, and so much more.

Rebel with a Clause combines the qualities of a first-class work of reference with the laugh-out-loud pleasure of a good read. Punctuated with linguistic debates from tiny towns to crowded cities, this grammar romp will delight anyone wishing to polish their prose or revel in our age-old, universal fascination with language.

Found in Translation: The Unexpected Origins of Place Names unravels the tangled threads of history and etymology to uncover the strange, intriguing and enlightening stories that have shaped the names of countries and places around the world.

Starting in the world’s second largest country, Canada, whose name means ‘the village’, renowned travel writer, Duncan Madden takes us on a spellbinding tour through the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania, visiting the weird and wonderful along the way. Learn about the Land Protected by Fire , otherwise known as Azerbaijan; drop by Hippopotamus, or Mali; and sail to the Land of Frizzy-Haired Men in Papua New Guinea.

Found in Translation will entertain and inspire the culturally curious – armchair explorers and avid travellers, historians, linguists and lovers of language – painting a new perspective on the names, histories and origins of the places we live in and travel to. Visiting more than sixty countries across all six continents, Found in Translation includes the stories of Canada, USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Iceland, Ireland, UK, Germany, Russia, Italy, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Iraq, India, China, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and many more…

The foreword, written by bestselling author, explorer and photographer, Levison Wood, sets the context for this revelatory work that is part travelogue, history book and etymological reference.

A powerful new anthology depicting how love over the past two-and-a-half millennia has found its expression in the words of the world’s greatest poets.

No, Love Is Not Dead is a timely affirmation of the great linguistic diversity of poetry and its ability to express passionate love, the most extreme of human emotions. With influential, award-winning poets including Kim Hyesoon, Laura Tohe and Warsan Shire, and languages ranging from Amharic, Akkadian and Ancient Greek to Yankunytjatjara, Yiddish and Yoruba, this unique anthology engages the reader in reflective tales of unlikely love stories and impossible love, love in a time of politics, surrealist love, visual love and free love, offering an intuitive insight into both historical and present-day perceptions of love across cultures.

Including over 50 poets, writing on each of the world’s continents, this new anthology of poems about love features a diverse range of original poems written in a variety of languages – modern, ancient, endangered and constructed -, accompanied by English translations and commentaries.

Poets included in the book: Apollinaire; Nicole Brossard; Augusto de Campos; Catullus; Chaucer; Dante; Robert Desnos; Ali Cobby Eckermann; Goethe; Kim Hyesoon; Louise Labé; Federico Garcia Lorca; Vladimir Mayakovsky; Miklós Radnóti; Kutti Ravathi; Sappho; Warsan Shire; Laura Tohe; Marina Tsvetaeva.

Languages included in the book: Akkadian; Amharic; Ancient Greek; Faroese; French; Galician; German; Hungarian; Italian; Japanese; Latvian; Maori; Persian; Polari; Portuguese; Russian; Sanskrit; Scots; Scottish Gaelic; Serbian;  Spanish; Urdu; Welsh; Yoruba.

Foreword by Laura Tohe, the current Navajo Nation Poet Laureate and Professor Emeritus with Distinction at Arizona State University, who has won awards including the 2020 Academy of American Poetry Fellowship, the 2019 American Indian Festival of Writers Award, and the Arizona Book Association’s Glyph Award for Best Poetry.

One language is falling silent every two weeks. Half of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world today will be lost by the end of this century. With the loss of these languages, we also lose the unique poetic traditions of their speakers and writers. 

Poems from the Edge of Extinction gathers together 50 poems in languages from around the world that have been identified as endangered; it is a celebration of our linguistic diversity and a reminder of our commonalities and the fundamental role verbal art plays in human life around the world. With poems by influential, award-winning poets such as US poet laureate Joy Harjo, Hawad, Valzhyna Mort, and Jackie Kay, this anthology offers a unique insight into both languages and poetry, taking the reader on an emotional, life-affirming journey into the culture of these beautiful languages.

Each poem appears in its original form, alongside an English translation, and is accompanied by a commentary about the language, the poet and the poem – in a vibrant celebration of life, diversity, language, and the enduring power of poetry.

This timely collection is passionately edited by widely published poet and UK National Poetry Librarian, Chris McCabe, who is also the founder of the Endangered Poetry Project, a major project launched by London’s Southbank Centre to collect poetry in the world’s disappearing languages, and introduced by Dr Mandana Seyfeddinipur, Director of the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme and the Endangered Languages Archive at SOAS University of London, and Dr Martin Orwin, Senior Lecturer in Somali and Amharic, SOAS University of London.

Languages included in the book: Assyrian; Belarusian; Chimiini; Irish Gaelic; Maori; Navajo; Patua; Rotuman; Saami; Scottish Gaelic; Welsh; Yiddish; Zoque.

Poets included in the book: Joy Harjo; Hawad; Jackie Kay; Aurélia Lassaque; Nineb Lamassu; Gearóid Mac Lochlainn; Valzhyna Mort; Laura Tohe; Taniel Varoujan; Avrom Sutzkever.

The greatest survey of slang ever published – winner of the 2012 Dartmouth Medal. ‘The reference work of the vulgar tongue to which all others must now be referred […] English slang in more detail than any lexicographer before him’ The Telegraph

This three-volume set of Green’s Dictionary of Slang demonstrate the sheer scope of a lifetime of research by Jonathon Green, the leading slang lexicographer of our time. A remarkable collection of this often reviled but endlessly fascinating area of the English language, it covers slang from the past five centuries right up to the present day, from all the different English-speaking countries and regions. Every word and phrase is authenticated by genuine and fully-referenced citations of its use, giving the work a level of authority and scholarship unmatched by any other publication in this field.

Green’s Dictionary of Slang is a groundbreaking work. Quite simply, it is the most authoritative and comprehensive record of slang ever to be made available.

• The magnum opus from the English-speaking world’s leading slang lexicographer, Jonathon Green
• Meticulously researched and thoroughly authenticated, with all words, phrases and meanings backed by citations from a myriad of original sources
• Covers 500 years of slang from right across the English-speaking world and from all walks of life
• Contains 10.3 million words, offering over 53,000 entries, covering 100,000 definitions of words and phrases, and including over 413,000 citations

Whether you want to unwind with a simple game like Accordion or Clock, or are looking for more of a challenge like Flower Garden or Miss Milligan, there is a game for everyone, regardless of age or level of skill.

Peter Arnold is an author and editor, most of whose 50 or so books concern sports and games. Several of his books are on table games, including some on individual card games, one of which was described by a New York author as ‘the best history of gambling’.

Are you stuck on that final clue? Do you know some of the letters but not enough? The Chambers Crossword Lists is the ideal reference for crosswords of all types – cryptic, quick and general knowledge. The Chambers Crossword Completer enables you to complete your crossword by using the words from clues you have answered to fill in the gaps on clues you are struggling with. It has been loved by a generation of crossword solvers. This edition is fully updated with words from the latest edition of The Chambers Dictionary.

The book is split into two sections, one with words arranged according to odd letters and one with words arranged according to even letters. Within each section, the solutions are divided by word length, and then in alphabetical order. This is a crucial source of advice for any crossworder.

Acknowledged as the definitive work on modern crosswords, Chambers Crossword Manual is an essential handbook for all crossword fans from beginners to experts. It is packed with practical advice on solving crosswords, as well as many practice crosswords.

‘ For the novice or the champion, this is the book’ Gyles Brandreth

‘The outstanding book about crosswords’ Sir Jeremy Morse

• The most respected crossword book on the market, with incredible endorsements, and a foreword by Colin Dexter.
• Don Manley is one of the UK’s best-known crossword setters, and is one of only a handful of people to have set crosswords for all five major broadsheet newspapers.
• Chambers is a highly respected crossword brand with other market leaders including the Chambers Crossword Dictionary and Chambers Crossword Lists.

The treasure-trove for crossword lovers.

The Chambers Crossword Companion is designed for crossword fanatics of all ages and expertise. Dip into this definitive reference package, and you will find advice, word lists, solutions and much more.

All the solutions you’ll need: for the first time ever, the Chambers Crossword Companion brings together the two most important crossword-solvers tools: The Chambers Crossword Dictionary and Chambers Complete Crossword Lists, fully integrated with each other.

All the history you’ll need: the Companion is introduced by a brilliant essay by crossword guru Don Manley explaining ‘The History of Crosswords in Ten Clues’.

All the advice you’ll need: the first section of the book, based on Chambers Crossword Manual, is full of practical tips on how approach a crossword and understand the different clue types. All the practice you’ll need: included as part of the manual section, are over thirty actual crossword puzzles, complete with detailed explanations of the solutions.

• Great value – three bestselling products for £39.99 (normally RRP if bought separately would be£70+)
• A gorgeous package which will make a perfect gift for any crossword lover
• Helps you whether you are trying to understand the clue (How to Do Cryptic
• Crossword), find words which will help you (Chambers Crossword Lists) or actually fill in blank spaces (Chambers Crossword Completer).

Are you stuck on that final clue? Or do you just need a prod in the right direction? The Chambers Crossword Lists is the ideal reference for crosswords of all types – cryptic, quick and general knowledge.

With hundreds of categories, from abbey names to zoological terms, the categories in the Chambers Crossword Lists will help you fill in the gaps in both your knowledge and your crossword. Loved by a generation of crossword solvers, this edition contains categories such as websites and computer games, as well as gaps filled in such as Chinese dynasties and the Cinque Ports. The categories appear in alphabetical order. Within each category, the lists are organised first by the number of words, and secondly by alphabetical order. This is a crucial part of any crossword lover’s library