'In the year of grace 1066, the Lord, the ruler, brought to fulfilment what He had long planned for the English people: He delivered them up to be destroyed by the violent and cunning Norman race.' Henry of Huntingdon's narrative covers one of the most exciting and bloody periods in English history: the Norman Conquest and its aftermath. He tells of the decline of the Old English kingdom, the victory of the Normans at the Battle of Hastings, and the establishment of Norman rule. His accounts pf the kings who reigned during his lifetime — William II, Henry I, and Stephen — contain unique descriptions of people and events. Henry tells how promiscuity, greed, treachery, and cruelty produced a series of disasters, rebellions, and wars. Interwoven with memorable and vivid battle-scenes are anecdotes of court life, the death and murder of nobles, and the first written record of Cnut and the waves and the death of Henry I from a surfeit of lampreys. Diana Greenway's translation of her definitive Latin text has been revised for this edition.

'Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!' A powerful poem of universal guilt and a protest against capital punishment, The Ballad of Reading Gaol is Wilde's best-known poem, yet it is quite unlike the rest of his poetry. At Oxford Wilde discarded the passion and politics of his mother's Irish nationalistic anti-famine poetry and opted to follow an English Romantic tradition, paying tribute to Keats, Swinburne, and the Pre-Raphaelites. Admiration of French masters gradually led to his writing Impressionist, even decadent poems and his collection Poems (1881) brought accusations of obscenity and plagiarism as well as scathing reviews. Unabashed, Wilde revised and reprinted his final 'Author's Edition' in 1892, by which time he was the successful author of fiction, criticism, and Lady Windermere's Fan. This volume follows as closely as possible the chronological order of composition, highlighting autobiographical elements including the young Wilde's conflicting attitudes to Greece and Rome, pagan and Christian, and his fluctuating attraction to Roman Catholicism. The Appendix shows Wilde's original ordering, constructed with great care around a 'musical' arrangement of themes. The poems reveal unexpected aspects of a literary chameleon usually identified with sparkling wit and social comedy.

The Norman Conquest in 1066 was the last time England was successfully invaded, and was one of the most profound turning points in English history, cataclysmically transforming a disparate collection of small nations into a European state. But what actually happened? How was the invasion viewed by those who witnessed it? And how has its legacy been seen by generations since? This fascinating Very Short Introduction reveals how dramatically English life was changed, from its language to its law, and focuses on the differing ways the conquest has been viewed by historians and in folklore ever since.

Completely updated to include all the latest vocabulary, this fourth edition of the Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary contains coverage of over 175,000 words and phrases, and 240,000 translations. It includes a comphrensive correspondence guide with sample letters, emails, and CVs, plus fun and informative cultural notes on life and living in the Spanish-speaking world. This new edition also features new sections on Spanish as used around the world, false friends and Spanglish, as well as an entirely new internet section helping with everyday online activities from booking tickets to banking online. The Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary is easy to use, with a clear layout featuring a two-colour text design and printed thumb tabs for quick reference.

This marvellous book covers a wide range of topics, from different breeds of horse, horse history and how to look after your horse. Packed with facts and illustrations this is a wonderful introduction to the animal world for young readers. For real horse enthusiasts this book also suggests websites and places to visit to find out even more! Other titles in this series: Big Cats, Spiders, Frogs and Toads, Bees, Elephants, Wolves, Snakes, Sharks, Rats, Whales, Crocodiles, Dinosaurs and Dogs.

Will Shakespeare dreamed of becoming an actor and a playwright. At nineteen he left his home town of Stratford and headed for London, following his dream. He became an actor, part owner of the Globe theatre — and the greatest playwright of all time. 400 years on, his plays are even more popular. They are performed in theatres all over the world. Other titles in the series: Amelia Earhart, Alexander the Great, Captain Cook, Cleopatra, Eric the Red Galileo, Gandhi, Hans Christian Andersen, Henry Ford, Roald Dahl and Thomas Edison.

Designed to follow the latest CIE IGCSE syllabus, this revision guide will provide revision material which is presented in a clear, concise, but not too condensed format, appropriate for international students aged 14-16. They may be used for study and homework throughout the year but are predominantly intended as a student revision purchase. Suitable for all students, it will stretch those of a lower ability while challenging and providing a wealth of exam practice for students of higher ability. We provide everything needed to ensure exam success including questions and answers, revision and assessment advice. Vocabulary-based activities such as crossword puzzles will be included to support students whose first language is not English.

100% new. New Practical English video, featuring authentic interviews with real people. Shorter syllabus for Beginner-level students.

One night, Goat is woken by a noise downstairs. His immediate thought is that there must be burglars in the house. He doesn't know what to do, but he knows that Donkey will, so he tiptoes very quietly to Donkey's room. But when Goat discovers that Donkey's bed is empty, he comes to the conclusion that Donkey must have been stolen! Full of fear and trepidation, Goat grabs Donkey's toy Rabbity (to brandish at the burglars), goes downstairs, and bursts bravely into the kitchen... only to find that the noise is in fact coming from Donkey who has gone downstairs to make himself a sandwich! Relieved but overwrought, Goat is in need of some comfort and a midnight feast with Donkey is just the thing to soothe his shattered nerves! A delightful duo — Goat and Donkey are ready to entertain children and parents everywhere.

Hare is always raring to go. He races through the day while the ever-patient Tortoise does his best to keep up. Hare, it certainly seems to Tortoise, has boundless energy. So Tortoise has plans for when it is time for Hare to go to bed — a well-deserved rest with a cup of chamomile tea! And, for the first time in the day, it is Tortoise who is in a hurry. He reads speedily, with one eye on his cuppa. But Hare has other ideas. As far as he is concerned, when it's time for his bedtime story from Tortoise, he is no longer in a hurry. In fact he wants to take all the time in the world and linger over every picture. After all, some things just shouldn't be rushed! Toddlers will love this simple story, with its cosy farmland setting and lovable characters. And while adults are reading a story that highlights the differences between the energetic and impetuous Hare and the rather more circumspect Tortoise, they will no doubt smile as they recognise the parallels with their own experiences of childcare!

Button has had a busy day playing with his older sisters and now it's time for Mummy and Daddy to put him to bed. Just as they pad quietly away, Button remembers the fallen log he clambered over during the afternoon. It looked a bit like a big bear asleep in the grass and now Button is worried that the tree-bear might lumber into his dreams and turn them into scary ones. He calls out and Daddy comes back to comfort Button. Daddy always knows what to do in these situations-he tells Button the lovely, familiar story of the day he was born. Daddy remembers fondly all the happy details of the day that Button came into the world and these always do just the trick in helping Button to forget about anything that might be making him anxious at bedtime. The illustrations from Layn Marlow are beautiful-Button is the most adorable chocolate-brown bear cub you are ever likely to meet-and the softness of the illustrations perfectly captures the mood of this gentle bedtime story.

At school, Roald Dahl looked forward most to those special days when the local chocolate company sent every pupil a large box of chocolate bars for testing. Years later he wrote a children's book inspired by the chocolate testing. It was one of the first of a string of incredibly funny, rude and amazing stories, which millions of children have read and enjoyed.

'Twinkle twinkle chocolate bar Your dad drives a rusty car Press the starter Pull the choke Off he goes in a cloud of smoke'. Anon Here is a collection of poems and rhymes for very young children. With themes ranging from pets, magic and weather to favourite foods, families and toys, there are poems for every occasion. And the mix of cautionary verse, nonsense rhymes, lullabies, lyrical poems and comic verse adds up to an anthology to suit all moods and moments. There are contributions from Michael Rosen, Wendy Cope, Charles Causley, Valerie Bloom, Brian Moses, Spike Milligan, Jack Prelutsky and many, many more. Each poem is accompanied by full colour artwork — from a diverse range of illustrators including Tony Ross, Nick Sharratt, Ian Beck, Brian Wildsmith and Korky Paul.

Winnie's sisters have given her a flying carpet but Winnie is struggling to find something nice to say about it in her thank-you letter as the carpet has been more than a little wayward. Winnie decides to give the carpet one last chance but then disaster strikes. The carpet swoops off with poor Wilbur as its unwilling passenger. Winnie tries to catch it but the carpet is too fast for her and it heads straight for a funfair where it subjects Wilbur to a string of crazy rides. Winnie has to resort to magic to stop the carpet in its tracks and rescue her beloved moggy. Then she takes Wilbur home and, ever the resourceful witch, she has an idea for a wonderful way to enjoy the carpet in the safety of her own garden. This story is full of noisy antics: a collision with a rubbish truck, a splash-down into a pond, and a sequence of exciting rides at the funfair are just some of the wonderful sound-effect additions to the narration of Winnie's Flying Carpet on the accompanying audio CD.

What is 'nothing'? What remains when you take all the matter away? Can empty space — a void — exist? This Very Short Introduction explores the science and the history of the elusive void: from Aristotle who insisted that the vacuum was impossible, via the theories of Newton and Einstein, to our very latest discoveries and why they can tell us extraordinary things about the cosmos. Frank Close tells the story of how scientists have explored the elusive void, and the rich discoveries that they have made there. He takes the reader on a lively and accessible history through ancient ideas and cultural superstitions to the frontiers of current research. He describes how scientists discovered that the vacuum is filled with fields; how Newton, Mach, and Einstein grappled with the nature of space and time; and how the mysterious 'aether' that was long ago supposed to permeate the void may now be making a comeback with the latest research into the 'Higgs field'. We now know that the vacuum is far from being empty — it seethes with virtual particles and antiparticles that erupt spontaneously into being, and it also may contain hidden dimensions that we were previously unaware of. These new discoveries may provide answers to some of cosmology's most fundamental questions: what lies outside the universe, and, if there was once nothing, then how did the universe begin?

«Maupassant's second novel, Bel-Ami (1885) is the story of a ruthlessly ambitious young man (Georges Duroy, christened «Bel-Ami» by his female admirers) making it to the top in fin-de-sihcle Paris. It is a novel about money, sex, and power, set against the background of the politics of the French colonization of North Africa. It explores the dynamics of an urban society uncomfortably close to our own and is a devastating satire of the sleaziness of contemporary journalism. Bel-Ami enjoys the status of an authentic record of the apotheosis of bourgeois capitalism under the Third Republic. But the creative tension between its analysis of modern behavior and its identifiably late nineteenth-century fabric is one of the reasons why Bel-Ami remains one of the finest French novels of its time, as well as being recognized as Maupassant's greatest achievement as a novelist. This new translation is complemented by fullest introduction and notes of any edition currently available.»

Tony Wright's Very Short Introduction to British Politics is an interpretative essay on the British political system, rather than merely an abbreviated textbook on how it currently works. He identifies key characteristics and ideas of the British tradition, and investigates what makes British politics distinctive, while emphasizing throughout the book how these characteristics are reflected in the way the political system actually functions. Each chapter is organized around a key theme, such as the constitution or political accountability, which is first established and then explored with examples and illustrations. This in turn provides a perspective for a discussion of how the system is changing, looking in particular at devolution and Britain's place in Europe. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam

Despite a long history of external threats and internal strife, the Roman Catholic Church and the broader phenomenon of Catholicism remain a vast and valuable presence into the third millennium of world history. What are the origins of the Catholic Church? How has Catholicism changed and adapted to such vast and diverse cultural influences over the centuries? What great challenges does the Catholic Church now face in the twenty-first century, both within its own life and in its relation to others around the world? In this Very Short Introduction, Gerald O'Collins draws on the best current scholarship available to answer these questions and to present, in clear and accessible language, a fresh introduction to the largest and oldest institution in the world. O'Collins explains clearly and concisely where the Catholic Church comes from, what it believes and practices, the sacraments and the Church's moral teaching, and where it is heading. The book also includes a timeline of events in the history of Catholicism and useful suggestions for further reading.

The last century has been a tumultuous one for the culture and politics of Britain. Kenneth Morgan's Twentieth-Century Britain is a crisp analysis of the forces of consensus and conflict that have existed in Britain since the First World War. Using a wide variety of sources, including the records of political parties and recently released documents from Britain's Public Records Office, Kenneth Morgan covers the full scope of Britain's modern history while drawing thought-provoking comparisons with the post-war history of other nations. This penetrating analysis by a leading twentieth-century historian makes for fantastic reading for anyone interested in the development of modern Britain.

Global warming is arguably the most critical and controversial issue facing the world in the twenty-first century, one that will affect every living creature on the planet. It is also an extraordinarily complex problem, which everyone needs to understand as clearly and completely as possible. This Very Short Introduction provides a concise and accessible explanation of the key aspects of global warming. Mark Maslin discusses how and why changes are occurring, sets current warming trends in the context of past climate change, examines the predicted impact of global warming, as well as the political controversies of recent years and the many proposed solutions. Fully updated for 2008, this compelling account offers the best current scientific understanding of global warming, describing recent developments in US policy and the UK Climate Change Bill, where we now stand with the Kyoto Protocol, and the latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Maslin also includes a chapter on local solutions, reflecting the now widely held view that, to mitigate any impending disaster, governments as well as individuals must to act together.