Language Visible: Unraveling the Mystery of the Alphabet from A to Z by David Sacks
Book Description
Letters are tangible language. Joining together in endless combinations to actually show speech, letters convey our messages and tell our stories. While we encounter these tiny shapes hundreds of times a day, we take for granted the long, fascinating history behind one of the most fundamental of human inventions -- the alphabet.
The heart of the book is the 26 fact-filled “biographies” of letters A through Z, each one identifying the letter’s particular significance for modern readers, tracing its development from ancient forms, and discussing its noteworthy role in literature and other media. We learn, for example, why the letter X has a sinister and sexual aura, how B came to signify second best, why the word “mother” in many languages starts with M, and what is the story of O.
Packed with information and lavishly illustrated, Language Visible is not only accessible and entertaining, but essential to the appreciation of our own language. (Amazon.Com)

An introduction to a new way of looking at history, from a perspective that stretches from the beginning of time to the present day, Maps of Time is world history on an unprecedented scale. Beginning with the Big Bang, David Christian views the interaction of the natural world with the more recent arrivals in flora and fauna, including human beings.
Cosmology, geology, archeology, and population and environmental studies, all figure in David Christian's account, which is an ambitious overview of the emerging field of "Big History."

English as a Global Language
David Crystal's informative account of the rise of English as a global language explores the history, current status and potential of English as the international language of communication. This new edition of his classic work includes additional sections on the future of English as a world language, English on the Internet, and the possibility of an English "family" of languages. Footnotes, new tables, and a comprehensive bibliography reflect the expanded scope of the revised edition. An internationally renowned scholar in the field of language and linguistics, David Crystal received an Order of the British Empire in 1995 for his services to the English Language. He is the author of several books with Cambridge, including Language and the Internet (2001), Language Death (2000), English as a Global Language (1997), Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (1997), and Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (19
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David Crystal, world authority on the English language, has written a timely and informative account of the phenomenon of English as a global language - the most successful the globe has ever known, with perhaps 1,500 million speakers . But if its rise continues what will be the fate of less powerful tongues? and what would have been the impact if Bill Gates had grown up speaking Chinese? What makes a world language? And why is English the leading candidate? Will it continue to hold that position? This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in language issues, whatever their political views on the subject.

 Volume 2 Bigger, badder, sharper, ruder, funnier, bestier ...this all-new companion volume to the 2005 Christmas bestseller IS IT JUST ME OR IS EVERYTHING SHIT? perfectly complements the first book to form the standard reference work on the shittiness of modern life - like a part-work, only good. .