Described variously as the greatest poem of the European Middle Ages and, because of the author's evangelical purpose, the 'fifth Gospel', the Divine Comedy is central to the culture of the west. The poem is a spiritual autobiography in the form of a journey — the poet travels from the dark circles of the Inferno, up the mountain of Purgatory, where Virgil, his guide leaves him to encounter Beatrice in the Earthly Paradise. Dante conceived the poem as the new epic of Christendom, and he creates a world in which reason and faith have transformed moral and social chaos into order. Charles Sisson's blank verse translation is remarkable for its lucidity and vigour, and the Introduction, diagrams, maps, and notes by David Higgins provide the reader with invaluable guidance.

'A prince must not have any other object nor any other thought...but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands.' When Machiavelli's brief treatise on Renaissance statecraft and princely power was posthumously published in 1532, it generated a debate that has raged unabated until the present day. Based upon Machiavelli's first-hand experience as an emissary of the Florentine Republic to the courts of Europe, The Prince analyses the usually violent means by which men seize, retain, and lose political power. Machiavelli added a dimension of incisive realism to one of the major philosophical and political issues of his time, especially the relationship between public deeds and private morality. His book provides a remarkably uncompromising picture of the true nature of power, no matter in what era or by whom it is exercised. This fluent new translation is accompanied by comprehensive notes and an introduction that considers the true purpose of The Prince and dispels some of the myths associated with it.

Read at Home First Skills are fun early learning books, which use your favourite Oxford Reading Tree characters to introduce important first skills to your child. Your favourite Oxford Reading Tree characters make learning fun and memorable. Read at Home First Skills books are the perfect accompaniment to all your Oxford Reading Tree Read at Home storybooks. In this fun story, it is Biff and Chip's birthday. They have a number of friends coming, invitations to send, food to buy and so much more! With so many children and so much to do, Dad shows Biff that using times tables can help prepare for the big day. Times tables are very hard for children to learn. To ensure that the levelling is right, the main focus of the story is the two, five and ten times tables, which are the first times tables children are taught at school. Biff introduces all the times tables, from 2-10, at the end of the book for children to learn and refer to when they are ready. As with all Read at Home books, the story ends with fun activities for parent and child to enjoy together.

Read at Home First Skills are fun early learning books, which use your favourite Oxford Reading Tree characters to introduce important first skills to your child. Your favourite Oxford Reading Tree characters make learning fun and memorable. Read at Home First Skills books are the perfect accompaniment to all your Oxford Reading Tree Read at Home storybooks. From Floppy having no bone (0) through to Nadim playing with twenty (20) building blocks, this book takes the reader through a series of fun events to help him/her learn to count to twenty. Throughout, parent and child can read the number as a digit (e.g. 1) and see it written as a word (e.g. one). The reader can also count items relating to the relevant number on every page. They can also read a sentence about what the character is doing on the page (e.g. Kipper is looking for seven starfish). Fun illustrations support the text throughout. As with all Read At Home books, the book ends with fun activities for parent and child to enjoy together.

Read at Home First Skills are fun early learning books, which use your favourite Oxford Reading Tree characters to introduce important first skills to your child. Your favourite Oxford Reading Tree characters make learning fun and memorable. Read at Home First Skills books are the perfect accompaniment to all your Oxford Reading Tree Read at Home storybooks. From Gran picking an apple to Chip and Wilf spying a zebra, this book takes the reader through a series of fun events to help him/her learn alphabet letters and sounds. Throughout, parent and child can see either the capital letter (e.g. A), the lower case letter (e.g. a), the letter at the beginning of word (e.g. apple) and the word in a sentence e.g. Gran picked an apple. Fun illustrations support the text throughout. As with all Read at Home books, the story ends with fun activities for parent and child to enjoy together.

Read at Home First Skills are fun early learning books, which use your favourite Oxford Reading Tree characters to introduce important first skills to your child. Your favourite Oxford Reading Tree characters make learning fun and memorable. Read at Home First Skills books are the perfect accompaniment to all your Oxford Reading Tree Read at Home storybooks. In this fun story, the reader follows Kipper through his busy day and learns to tell the time. As with all Read at Home books, the story ends with fun activities for parent and child to enjoy together.

Oxford Take Off in Russian makes learning or brushing up on your Russian quick, easy, and fun. Follow an integrated course including activities and dialogues with native speakers so you can feel confident in day-to-day conversation. Advance from beginner to intermediate level in one integrated book and audio course. This complete language-learning kit contains everything you need to speak, read, write, and understand Russian, and gives you flexibility when learning. The pack includes a clear, easy-to-use coursebook, full mp3 audio to download, and 4 CDs to support you in learning a new language. Flexible and structured course units allow you to work at your own pace and check your progress with regular self-testing exercises. New, market-tested packaging provides a portable and compact complete language-learning course.

This fantastic slipcase contains six of Winnie and Wilbur's crazy capers. Meet them in their black house, take a hazardous ride on Winnie's broomstick, join them on a hot and sunny winter's day, find out what happens when Winnie's wand stops working, discover how much chaos a computer can cause and spend a day with them at the seaside! This collection is a must-have purchase for Winnie fans everywhere and, for those who have yet to meet everyone's favourite witch, it is a set that is guaranteed to make readers the best of friends with Winnie and her big black cat, Wilbur! The stories are full of noisy antics: clattering footsteps, colliding broomsticks, clanking washing machines, whirring computers and splashing waves are just some of the wonderful additions to the narration of each story on the accompanying two CDs.

If you love a good story, then look no further. Oxford Children's Classics bring together the most unforgettable stories ever told. They're books to treasure and return to again and again. From his simple beginnings under the shady trees in the meadow, Black Beauty's life takes many twists and turns — from a riding horse on a country estate to a cab horse on the busy streets of London. Over time he has many owners, some of whom treat him cruelly, but throughout it all he keeps his sweet temper and fine spirit.

Discover a lepe of leopards, a company of parrots, and a stream of minnows in this glorious visual introduction to the animal kingdom sumptuously illustrated by internationally acclaimed picture-book artist, Brian Wildsmith. This beautiful book will delight young animal lovers. Through evocative paintings, children are brought face to face with wildlife from around the world. Brian Wildsmith has captured the essence of each animal — from the playfulness of otters to a noisy gathering of parrots. His panoramic pictures also give a real sense of the animals' habitats — from a sun-soaked plain where elephants roam to icy Antarctica where penguins huddle together. Collective nouns — some familiar, others wonderfully surprising — are used to describe each group of animals. This is a book that will inspire a love of nature and a respect for animals from the earliest age.

If you love a good story, then look no further. Oxford Children's Classics bring together the most unforgettable stories ever told. They're books to treasure and return to again and again. After the death of her parents, Mary Lennox is sent to her uncle's house on the Yorkshire Moors. But the house is an unhappy one. A tragedy happened there years before, and Mary's uncle has never recovered. Miserable and lonely, Mary starts to explore the house's gardens. There, led by a mischievous robin, she discovers a secret so important, so enchanting, that it will change her life completely...

If you love a good story, then look no further. Oxford Children's Classics bring together the most unforgettable stories ever told. They're books to treasure and return to again and again. When Mole takes a break from his cleaning and wanders down to the river bank, he meets the Water Rat and a friendship is instantly formed. The two, together with Badger, spend a glorious summer messing about on the river, picnicking on the bank, and taking life easy. But when their hapless friend Toad gets into a spot of bother they dash to his aid. Soon the four friends are fighting to save Toad Hall from the dastardly stoats and weasels.

If you love a good story, then look no further. Oxford Children's Classics bring together the most unforgettable stories ever told. They're books to treasure and return to again and again. When a cyclone hits Kansas, Dorothy and her little dog, Toto, are whisked away to the magical land of Oz. All alone in this strange world, they wonder how they'll ever get home. With their new friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, they brave many dangers and journey to the Emerald City in search of the Wonderful Wizard to ask him for his help.

A fresh new look for this best-selling dictionary which contains over 650 up-to-date words and concepts. Each entry is in alphabetical order and along with a clear and straightforward definition, has a fun and informative colour illustration or diagram to help explain the meaning. Cross references link to other useful words in this dictionary so it is easy to build up maths vocabulary quickly. The colourful, modern design and simple layout make it easy to find the word you need, and fully understand it. This is an essential and invaluable tool that demystifies maths and explains terminology and concepts in an accessible way for primary children.

This is a new edition of the Oxford School Spelling Dictionary, revised to include new words and fully updated in line with modern spelling and the curriculum. Its new layout makes this book simple and accessible with the alphabet on each page, a colour thumb tab, and guide words at the top of each page. Locating words has never been so quick and simple — here is the perfect book to make spelling easy and make you confident that you have got it right. The footnotes throughout help build spelling knowledge and lead you from an incorrect look-up to the right word easily. Panels give extra information on spelling rules to put the building blocks of learning in place. A great tool for supporting writers both at home and school. Carefully prepared for KS2 and the in line with the new Primary Strategy.

A fresh new look for this dictionary which contains an alphabetical wordfinder of over 1000 words and phrases and additional feature spreads on key topics, all fully supported with diagrams and illustrations. It sets the meanings of mathematical words and concepts in context, making it a key dictionary for all secondary level mathematics students.

This authoritative edition was originally published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Keats's poetry and prose — all the major poems, complemented by a generous selection of Keats's letters — to give the essence of his work and thinking. In his tragically short life Keats wrote an astonishing number of superb poems; his stature as one of the foremost poets of the Romantic movement remains unassailable. This volume contains all the poetry published during his lifetime, including Endymion in its entirety, the Odes, 'Lamia', and both versions of 'Hyperion'. The poetry is presented in chronological sequence, illustrating the staggering speed with which Keats's work matured. Further insight into his creative process is given by reproducing, in their original form, a number of poems that were published posthumously. Keats's letters are admired almost as much as his poetry and were described by T. S. Eliot as 'certainly the most notable and most important ever written by any English poet'. They provide the best biographical detail available and shed invaluable light on Keats's poems.

Drawing on the unique resources of the Oxford English Dictionary and offering coverage of over 6,000 slang words and expressions from the Cockney 'abaht' to the American term 'zowie', this is the most authoritative dictionary of slang from the 20th and 21st centuries. Stone the Crows: Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang is a fascinating and entertaining collection, packed with illustrative quotations and providing full details of origins and dates of first printed use. The text contains expressions from around the English-speaking world such as 'dork' and 'cockamamie' (North America) and 'giggle-house' and 'Jimmy Woodser' (Australia). As well as the A-Z listing of terms, the book contains a comprehensive thematic index, enabling users to home in on particular areas of interest, such as the body, food and drink, and human behaviour. Full of surprises, Stone the Crows is an essential read for word lovers and anyone with an interest in language.

Harvey Cheyne is the over-indulged son of a millionaire. When he falls overboard from an ocean liner he is rescued by a Portuguese fisherman and, initially against his will, joins the crew of the We're Here for a summer. Through the medium of an exciting adventure story, Captains Courageous (1897) deals with a boy who like Mowgli in The Jungle Book, is thrown into an entirely alien environment. The superstitious, magical world of the sea and the tough, orderly, physical world of the boat form a backdrop to Harvey's regeneration. Kipling describes the fascination skills of the schooner fishermen who would soon be made redundant by the twentieth century, and makes the ship function as a convincing model for a society engaged in a difficult and dangerous task. The introduction to this edition examines its place among other maritime novels and among Kipling's own work, and explanatory notes clarify the seafaring terms and historical and geographical references.

Translated for the first time into English, the Old French prose poem is a classic of European literature and has influenced such diverse figures as Dante, T.H. White, and the makers of the 1967 film Camelot.