Language History

Deborah Fallows has spent a lot of her life learning languages and traveling around the world. But nothing prepared her for the surprises of learning Mandarin - China's most common language - or the intensity of living in Shanghai and Beijing. Over time, she realized that her struggles and triumphs in studying learning the language of her adopted home provided small clues to deciphering behavior and habits of its people, and its culture's conundrums.

When conflicts become entrenched over generations, the language of war infiltrates everyday life, concealing destruction and hardening positions. Nowhere is this truer than in the Middle East. Award-winning author Raja Shehadeh explores the politics of language and the language of politics in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reflecting on the walls that they create - legal and cultural - that confine today's Palestinians just like the borders, checkpoints and so-called "Separation Barrier".

A history and examination of cursing, swearing, whatever you want to effing call it! Is it useful? Is it effective?

Perhaps not surprisingly given how advanced they were in comparison to contemporaries, the Egyptians invented one of the first writing systems ever, and for centuries, people thought these ancient texts held some sort of secret, be it aliens, advanced technology lost to the world, or mystical cures for all of the world’s ills. Even the ancient Egyptians saw their writing systems as full of mystery and hidden knowledge - according to Egyptian mythology, writing was invented by the ibis-headed god Thoth, the most intellectual of the gods.

A timely and moving collection from the renowned inaugural poet on issues facing our country and people—immigration, gun violence, racism, LGBTQ issues, and more. Through an oracular yet intimate and accessible voice, Richard Blanco addresses the complexities and contradictions of our...

A vacation has the special power to bring a family closer together— breaking away from familiar routines, allowing time to enjoy each others’ company, and experiencing the world together. All it takes is the right mindset and some planning. The Travel Mom shows you how. In one invaluable...

Get ready for a one-of-a-kind audio experience: discover Paris through intimate, guided audio walking tours of the city's most historic and enchanting quarters. There are four tours for you to listen to as you walk through the City of Light, plus essential French words and phrases that every traveler wants to know.

Get ready for a one-of-a-kind audio experience: discover Venice through intimate, guided audio walking tours of the city's most historic and enchanting quarters. There are four guided tours for you to listen to as you walk through Venice, plus essential Italian words and phrases that every traveler wants to know.

“One lifetime is not enough for Rome,” the famous saying goes, and anyone who’s ever been there knows these words to be true. In City of the Soul, William Murray begins to show us why. Growing up in Rome and spending much of his life in the city, William Murray is an expert guide as he...

Get ready for a one-of-a-kind audio experience: discover Florence through intimate, guided audio walking tours of the city's most historic and enchanting quarters. There are four guided tours for you to listen to as you walk through Florence, plus essential Italian words and phrases that every traveler wants to know.

This audiobook covers the Egyptian hieroglyph metaphysical language of images/pictures - the language of the mind/intellect/divine; the scientific/metaphysical realities of pictorial images (hieroglyphs) as the ultimate medium for the human consciousness that interpret, process, and maintain the meanings of such images.

A beautiful young Indian girl, and a brave Englishman. Black eyes, and blue eyes. A friendly smile, a laugh, a look of love.... But this is North America in 1607, and love is not easy. The girl is the daughter of King Powhatan, and the Englishman is a white man. And the Indians of Virginia do not want the white men in their beautiful country. This is the famous story of Pocahontas, and her love for the Englishman John Smith.

It is night in the South Seas near Tahiti, and the ship HMS Bounty has begun the long voyage home to England. But the sailors on the ship are angry men, and they have swords and guns. They pull the captain out of bed and take him up on deck. He tries to run, but a sailor holds a knife to his neck. "Do that again, Captain Bligh, and you’re a dead man!" he says.

Reason has done much of the heavy lifting throughout history. In this second volume, this book presents quotations from many of history's key figures who both recognize the importance—and also the limitations—of reason.

You may have seen a bird holding branches in its beak in order to build its nest, but have you ever seen a bird picking up pebbles to throw into a vast expanse of water? There was indeed such a bird in ancient China.

“One lifetime is not enough for Rome,” the famous saying goes, and anyone who’s ever been there knows these words to be true. In City of the Soul, William Murray begins to show us why. Growing up in Rome and spending much of his life in the city, William Murray is an expert guide as he...

Languages make us human. The ability to communicate and be understood through songs, art,words, inscriptions, or even gestures is essential because we, as a species, cannot live in isolation.And each one of these languages has its own journey.Early humans leaving messages on cave walls; three...

The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history. Contents: Edward Jenner, the man who fought the terrible disease, smallpox Florence Nightingale, the nurse known as ‘the lady with the lamp’ Elizabeth Garrett, England’s first female doctor Carl Jung, the doctor who wanted to...

The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history. Contents: Henry J Heinz, the man who invented tomato ketchup William Lever who made millions from soap Michael Marks, founder of the Marks and Spencer stores Henry Ford, who mass-produced cars and made them affordable Coco Chanel, the...

The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history. Contents: Antoine Lavoisier who wrote the first modern chemistry textbook Humphry Davy who discovered ‘laughing gas’ Charles Darwin who changed people’s ideas with his theory of evolution Gregor Mendel who first discovered the science...