Language History

What happens to Queen Bees and Wannabes when they grow up? Even the most well-adjusted moms and dads can experience peer pressure and conflicts with other adults that make them act like they’re back in seventh grade. In Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads, Rosalind Wiseman gives us the tools to...

Surprising, entertaining, and illuminating, this is a must-listen for armchair travelers and word nerds. Our dictionaries are full of hidden histories, tales, and adventures from all over the world - if you know where to look.

يَرْوي كتاب «25 يوماً إلى عدن» القصةَ الحقيقية لتشكيلِ دُولِ الخليج العربي، خلالَ أسبوعٍ واحد، تحالُفاً من عشرِ دُولٍ، أطلَقَ أكبرَ عمليةٍ عسكرية تُشَنُّ من طرفٍ واحد. وقد تَعرَّضَت تلك الحملةُ لفتراتٍ من المدِّ والجَزْر؛ حيث كانت المُقاوَمةُ الجنوبية أحياناً على شفيرِ أن تُسحَق وهي تُقاتِل والبحرُ من ورائها، لكنها تَمكَّنَت من الصمودِ، وهزَمَت الغُزاةَ في نهاية المَطاف وانطلَقَت في إثْرِهم. إنها قصَّةٌ مُذهِلة تَرْوي كيف تَمكَّنَت جيوشٌ عربية من إنجازِ ما لم تَستطِع الولاياتُ المتحدة الأمريكية إنجازَه؛ أيْ مَنْع إيران من الحصول على مَوطِئِ قَدَمٍ في شِبه الجزيرة العربية. كما يروي الكتاب كيف تَمكَّنَت قواتٌ عربية خاصَّة من «قتالِ شبحٍ آتٍ من الجبال، بجوارِ أهمِّ مَعْبَرٍ بَحْريٍّ في العالَم»، مِثلما رَوى أحدُ المُقاتِلين المُشارِكين في الحَمْلة.

The City Inside, a near-future epic by the internationally celebrated Samit Basu, pulls no punches as it comes for your anxieties about society, government, the environment, and our world at large—yet never loses sight of the hopeful potential of the future. “They'd known the end times were...

In this incisive blend of personal narrative and philosophical inquiry, journalist and activist Barrett Holmes Pitner seeks a new way to talk about racism in America. Can new language reshape our understanding of the past and expand the possibilities of the future? The Crime Without a Name...

For word nerds and grammar geeks, a witty guide to the most commonly mispronounced words, along with their correct pronunciations and pithy forays into their fascinating etymologies and histories of use and misuse. With wit and good humor, this handy little book not only saves us from sticky...

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.

An urgent case that the survival of democracy depends on reinventing the press, with ten pioneering reforms to help journalism better serve the public—from the co-author of the classic The Elements of Journalism. The crisis in journalism reflects a crisis in American democracy. Faith in news...

Centuries ago in middle Europe, a coded language appeared, scrawled in graffiti and spoken only by people in the know. This hybrid language, dubbed Rotwelsch, facilitated survival for people in flight - whether escaping persecution or just down on their luck. It was a language of the road associated with vagabonds, travelers, Jews, and thieves that blended words from Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Romani, Czech, and other European languages and was rich in expressions for police, jail, or experiencing trouble, such as being in a pickle. This renegade language unsettled those in power.

Tracy Kidder, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, and the enduring classic Mountains Beyond Mountains, has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” In this new book, Kidder gives us the superb...

Audiolibro de Vive el Tiempo. Escrito hace más de dos mil años, El Arte de la Guerra es un manual de enseñanzas para salir exitoso de cualquier batalla que se presente en la vida. Hoy en día este libro ha superado su original carácter militar y se ha convertido en una ineludible herramienta para quienes quieren ser triunfadores en la política, en los negocios, en los deportes, en la diplomacia y en todas las relaciones humanas.

Frances Mayes, whose enchanting #1 New York Times bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun made the world fall in love with Tuscany, invites readers back for a delightful new season of friendship, festivity, and food, there and throughout Italy. Having spent her summers in Tuscany for the past...

The Pun Also Rises is an authoritative yet playful exploration of a practice that is common, in one form or another, to virtually every language on earth. At once entertaining and educational, this engaging book answers fundamental questions: Just what is a pun, and why do people make them? How did punning impact the development of human language, and how did that drive creativity and progress? And why, after centuries of decline, does the pun still matter?

"The Story of Peter Pan", by James M. Barrie, is one of the most famous tales about youth and dream-like adventures; this classic adaptation of Barrie's play will let you fly on the wings of your imagination. "The History of Tom Thumb" was the first fairy tale ever printed in English. "The Three Sillies" is a very old folktale, and has been handed down over the centuries for its entertainment value. "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is a classic folktale of which numerous versions are known; they all delight and educate children about the importance of boundaries and personal property. Last but not least, "Jack the Giant Killer" is a fascinating folk tale coming from the Middle Ages, set during King Arthur's reign; it shows how a young man uses clever tricks to outwit terrible giants and rid England of their terrible threats.

On June 22, 1936, the philosopher Moritz Schlick was on his way to deliver a lecture at the University of Vienna when Johann Nelböck, a deranged former student of Schlick's, shot him dead on the university steps. Some Austrian newspapers defended the madman, while Nelböck himself argued in court that his onetime teacher had promoted a treacherous Jewish philosophy. David Edmonds traces the rise and fall of the Vienna Circle - an influential group of brilliant thinkers led by Schlick.

A simple foreign phrase book? Che pizza! Speak the World: Italian teaches you the language and so much more. Margherita Berti, the talented linguist behind the wildly popular Italian Matters (5M+ followers!), shares her love for the language, culture, and history of Italy. In bocca al lupo!...

It is widely understood that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution completely revolutionized the study of biology. Yet, according to David Sloan Wilson, the Darwinian revolution won’t be truly complete until it is applied more broadly—to everything associated with the words “human,”...

As the main spoken language of the Jews for more than a thousand years, Yiddish has had plenty to lament, plenty to conceal. Its phrases and expressions paint a comprehensive picture of the mind-set that enabled the Jews of Europe to survive persecution: they never stopped kvetching about God...

With three straight #1 bestsellers and more than 4 million copies of his books in print, the most powerful traditional force in the American media now takes off his gloves in the ongoing struggle for America’s heart and soul. Bill O’Reilly is the very embodiment of the idea of a Culture...

With far-reaching implications, this urgent treatise promises to revolutionize our understanding of what it means to be human in the digital age. We used to say "seeing is believing"; now googling is believing. With 24/7 access to nearly all of the world's information at our fingertips, we no...