Collection: Adult Non Fiction - Languages and Literature

If you were to master the 20 languages discussed in Babel you could chat to more than half the world's population. Actually, you could talk to another quarter of the world, who speak them as second languages. As he did in Lingo, Gaston Dorren delves deep into the linguistic oddities and extraordi...

A thrilling journey deep into the heart of language, from a rather unexpected starting point. Keith Kahn-Harris is a man obsessed with something seemingly trivial - the warning message found inside Kinder Surprise eggs: WARNING, read and keep: Toy not suitable for children under 3 years. Small pa...

With his typical wit and keen analysis, O'Rourke looks at the way the post-war generation somehow came of age by never quite growing up and somehow created a better society by turning society upside down.

Using trusted American Sign Language (ASL), Baby Signing Essentials is the go-to guide for parents, caregivers, and educators looking to create effective two-way communication. Designed to grow with your baby by covering physical, emotional, mental, and linguistic development at each age, this sh...

Over the past three decades, Daniel Mendelsohn's essays and reviews have earned him a reputation as ̀our most irresistible literary critic' (New York Times). This striking new collection exemplifies the way in which Mendelsohn - a classicist by training - uses the classics as a lens to think abou...

Describes how a group of Timbuktu librarians enacted a daring plan to smuggle the city's great collection of rare Islamic manuscripts away from the threat of destruction at the hands of Al Quaeda militants to the safety of southern Mali.

Jake Newhouse is a pickup artist who sells seduction techniques to the lovelorn men of the internet. Ish Madigan is a feminist academic whose life's been destroyed by male internet trolls. They are natural enemies...until Jake grows desperate for a favour. He's developed a crush on a Danish libra...

What does the first poetry in Australia, written by the Judge who declared the land terra nullius, tell us about the singular nature of colonialism here? On 24 February 1817, Barron Field sailed into Sydney Harbour on the convict transport Lord Melville to a ceremonial thirteen-gun salute. He was...