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Using his database of 130,000 words and phrases, the lexicographer known as ‘Mr Slang’ explains the origins of some of the most witty, colourful and disreputable expressions in the English language. He takes us into the worlds of boxers, drunken sailors, doctors and lovers, as well as the more literary realms of PG Wodehouse and Shakespeare, that master of the double entendre who is the earliest source for nearly 300 slang terms.

Victorian newspaper reports, Old Bailey transcripts and coroners’ inquests offer a catalogue of grisly and often bizarre crimes: husbands murdering their wives, suicidal lovers, and mistresses taking revenge on their rivals in love. Drawing on these archival records, this book identifies three main types of offence: crimes of passion; theatrical crimes such as the fatal stabbing of the actor William Terriss at the door of the Adelphi; and unsolved mysteries.

In this illustrated book of Persian cuisine, Atoosa Sepehr has adapted traditional recipes to suit a more modern lifestyle, using readily available ingredients and including meat-based and vegetarian options. With descriptions of key flavours and techniques, the dishes reflect regional differences and include Marinated Olives with Walnuts and Mint from northern Iran, Prawns, Barberries and Saffron with Rice from the south, and Flower Baklava with Sticky Syrup, which should, for authenticity, be served with black tea.

How did a commodity that was once the prized monopoly of kings become an essential ingredient of everyday life and then the cause of a global health epidemic? James Walvin traces the history of how the demand for sweetness has been met, from early Mediterranean sugar plantations, to the immense human and environmental cost of the Caribbean plantations and the slave system, the industries that followed, and the dawning awareness of the obesity problem.

From ‘alcohol-free wine’ in the Home Comforts chapter to ‘serially monogamous’ in Uncomplicated Relationships, Simon Brett presents a collection of oxymorons – ‘the undiscovered beauties of the English Language’ – that includes the obvious (‘safe bet’), those that need a bit of explanation (victimless crime), and some tongue-in-cheek (Young Conservative).

Many of the martial arts of East Asia claim a history dating back thousands of years; this introduction to the subject traces the evidence to the Middle Ages and unravels the legends that claim a more ancient provenance.

‘Cat: a pygmy lion who loves mice, hates dogs and patronizes human beings’, wrote Oliver Herford (1863–1935) – but far from taking offence, we have sung the praises of cats in poetry and prose since the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead asked, ‘Who is this Cat?’ This anthology is arranged by theme, from the ‘Fireside Phoenix’ to ‘Requiescat’, and includes writers and poets from Aesop to Jerome K Jerome – and many famous literary cats.

Venice has inspired writers since the sixth century, when Cassiodorus described the lagoon-dwellers as living ‘like sea-birds in huts’. Selected by John Julius Norwich, this anthology includes the impressions of both inhabitants and visitors over the centuries. In letters, diaries, travelogues and verse, Byron, Casanova, Goethe, Wagner, Dickens, Ruskin, Henry James, Jan Morris and others reflect on the island city’s architecture, its atmosphere, music, ceremonies and people.

The Antarctic remains a formidable challenge to explorers, as these 32 first-hand accounts make plain. Their subjects range from Cook’s 18th-century voyage, via 20th-century heroes such as Scott and Shackleton, to Lynne Cox’s epic, icy swim in 2002.

In 1939 Polish Army lieutenant Slavomir Rawicz was sentenced to 25 years forced labour in a Siberian prison camp. In this controversial story of endurance, Rawicz describes his imprisonment and alleged escape to India across the Himalayas and Gobi Desert.

Mark Linley reveals secrets of his craft and provides tips and assignments as he guides readers to produce drawings that really are funny. From doodling to focusing on facial features, he explains how to caricature friends and famous people. First published in 1999.

The nine walks in this book cover central London from Kensington to Clerkenwell. They explore each area's history and the varied communities – Italian, Chinese, artistic and gay – that have shaped it. Each walk can be accomplished in less than an hour, and has a map marking places of interest.

Between the Romans’ departure from Britain and the Norman Conquest, a distinct English identity developed, the legacy of which is still felt today. As Hindley tells the story of Anglo-Saxon England he highlights its cultural glories, such as Beowulf and the Lindisfarne Gospels, and its powerful women, from the war leader Æthelflæd to the abbess Hilda. He also shows how the centralized English bureaucracy helped create Europe’s first true ‘nation’.

From the birth of the scientific outlook in the sixth century BCE, when practitioners first began to rely upon observation and reason, to the race to map the human genome, Paul Strathern follows the development of medicine through the lives of individuals including Hippocrates, William Harvey and Alexander Fleming. This accessible volume offers essential insights into the history of medical practice and pays tribute to human perseverance and achievement.

Lenin, Trotsky and Karensky were the ideological driving force behind the Russian Revolution: but were they, as one of Roy Bainton's sources describes them, 'totally evil men'? Or was Lenin, as a Red Army veteran insisted, 'a good man who ran the country on a worker's wages'? Bainton's brief history approaches the revolution from the standpoint of the ordinary mass of Russians, describing both the bravado of the revolutionaries and a people punished repeatedly by circumstance.

Written by a qualified nutritionist, this self-help guide aids the reader in locating the cause of IBS and implementing a five-point plan to eliminate problem substances, and suggests replacement foods that encourage good digestion.

How did a commodity that was once the prized monopoly of kings become an essential ingredient of everyday life and then the cause of a global health epidemic? James Walvin traces the history of how the demand for sweetness has been met, from early Mediterranean sugar plantations, to the immense human and environmental cost of the Caribbean plantations and the slave system, the industries that followed, and the dawning awareness of the obesity problem.

In this collection of new stories, Sherlock Holmes lives again to solve another eleven cases that would defeat a lesser sleuth. Among the authors are crime writers Simon Bestwick, Paul Finch, Carole Johnstone and Alison Littlewood.

The ancient tales of Norse mythology have recently been reaching new audiences through films and comics, but the original stories can be hard to disentangle from the medieval texts in which they are preserved. This selection of myths and legends is presented in more accessible retellings which incorporate commentary on the stories’ significance within the history, literature and world-view of the Vikings.

This World Cup compendium includes a comprehensive run-down of every tournament played from the inaugural competition in 1930 up to the 2014 finals. Additional commentary features insightful notes on the best players, classic matches and tactical developments, and there is informed opinion on everything World Cup-related, from why England failed to qualify in the 1970s to the most overrated players to possess a winner's medal.

Throughout its history, Madrid has attracted writers, artists and revolutionaries. This traveller’s reader brings the city to life through the letters, diaries, memoirs and novels of Casanova, Napoleon, Dumas, Trotsky, Hemingway, Dalí, Buñuel and many others. Selected by the eminent historian Hugh Thomas, these eyewitness accounts set five centuries of adventures and misadventures, Surrealist pranks and blood-soaked bullfights against the brooding backdrop of the Spanish capital.

Emily Hobhouse (1860–1926) left Cornwall in 1895 to follow her instinct to alleviate suffering. In South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War, she worked tirelessly to help women and children in the British concentration camps; during the First World War she campaigned for peace and later set up a feeding programme for German children starving in Leipzig. Drawing on Emily’s memoirs and scrapbooks, Elsabé Brits tells the story of a woman dedicated to helping others, yet branded a traitor.

In many ways Winston Churchill and South African statesman Jan Smuts were opposites: one a privileged Englishman with expensive tastes, the other a temperate philosopher of far humbler origins. Yet in matters of state their politics, military judgment and vision of Empire intersected, making possible a friendship which not only endured for almost half a century, but which influenced the outcome of two world wars and the transition from Empire to Commonwealth, as this account of their relationship attests.

From doorstep delivery and money collection to amorous liaisons and dog attacks, this nostalgic social history takes an affectionate look at a great British institution, examines the changes that have taken place over the years, and laments the demise of the industry. Rich with stories and reminiscences, the book documents and celebrates the figure who not only delivered milk but also acted as community worker, handyman and family friend.

Britain’s many battlefields bear witness to the dramatic turning points in the nation’s history. This readable guide describes more than 100 engagements from Roman times to 1746, when the last battle on British soil was fought at Culloden. Each self-contained entry charts the events leading up to the conflict, gives a dramatic account of the fighting, and assesses its consequences; and each has a map and practical information for visitors.

The intricate artwork and vibrant mythology of the Celts make their culture a source of particular fascination, which continues to be fuelled by new archaeological discoveries. This overview of ancient Europe discusses the Celts' mysterious origins, their complex society and their vigorous survival even after conquest by the Romans. Previously published as The Ancient World of the Celts (1998).

Bamber Gascoigne tells the story of the Christian faith, from its origins in the Roman Empire, through the glories of Byzantium and the machinations of Renaissance popes, to the Soviet Union’s hostility to religion. His entertaining narrative sets Christianity in the context of other world religions and explains the forces behind its development over time. Revised edition of The Christians, originally written to accompany Gascoigne’s 1977 television series.

The world of Native American mythology is inhabited by such fantastical and capricious characters as the shape-shifting trickster Coyote and the mischievous Blue Jay. The seminal study of these sacred tales was written by the Scottish folklorist Lewis Spence in 1914; this updated edition has a new introductory essay, commentary on Native American culture and stories from tribes not covered by Spence, such as the Inuit.

Elizabeth II is now the longest-reigning British monarch. Her life has been exhaustively documented, but what of the woman beneath the crown? Who are her friends? How does she feel about the demands of duty? What are her hobbies? Examining her early life, the training she received, and her attitudes to national life, historian Michael Paterson offers a refreshing portrayal of Britain's figurehead.

The fate of Tsar Nicholas II and his family has long haunted the public imagination. The autocratic ruler of one-sixth of the earth’s land area, he was responsible for mass imprisonment, pogroms and the shooting of demonstrators; yet photographs show him as a shy, gentle family man. This balanced and sympathetic history outlines the personal and political background that shaped his doomed reign, and could have overwhelmed a far abler ruler.

What are the key elements of Jewish theology? How do Jews put belief into practice? Rabbi Brawer outlines the development of the Jewish people and faith, from Abrahamic origins to the eras of diaspora and persecution. He particularly highlights how the ritual and practice that punctuate Jewish existence form a bridge between heaven and earth as they paradoxically call on adherents to transcend the material world while celebrating physical pleasures.

A detailed account of the ships that took part in the titanic seabattles of the Napoleonic wars between 1793 and the Battle ofTrafalgar in 1805 and its aftermath.

Ancient Greek myth tells of ferocious female warriors called Amazons who lived near the Black Sea and slaughtered their male children. Could the story reflect a real matriarchal society, or perhaps a women-only religious cult? This book follows the author’s quest for the evidence, not only in ancient texts and artistic depictions but also in archaeological discoveries such as the graves of Iron-Age women buried with arrows, swords and armour.

For much of the 14th and 15th centuries, England was almost continuously at war with its neighbours, and enjoyed an unprecedented degree of military supremacy. Peter Reid's extensive account is not simply a catalogue of battles, but combines analysis of strategy and weaponry with a dramatic telling of how and why the wars, from Bannockburn to the Wars of the Roses, came about, and how they were fought.

The period between the European Renaissance and Enlightenment brought monumental scientific discoveries about gravity, the structure of the solar system and the circulation of the blood, but these coexisted with an almost universal belief in horoscopes and magic. In this book a Tudor historian explores how the great thinkers of the age responded to the entanglement of superstition and science, and shows how their work contributed to debate about the relationship between belief and knowledge.

In 2012 the Imperial War Museums acquired a remarkable collection of 15,000 photographs showing American servicemen who were stationed at air bases in Britain during the Second World War. This selection presents more than 70 of the images illustrating the GIs’ work and recreations, both at military sites and among local communities. The accompanying text gives brief biographies of those pictured and celebrates the resilience and bravery with which pilots flew deep into enemy territory.

Britain's leading expert on stone circles here offers a comprehensive introduction to our most enigmatic ancient site. He explains how the stones were transported and their relationship with the surrounding burial sites; he carefully examines the possible astronomical meanings of the stones' alignment; and also debunks many myths and inaccurate mystical notions. Each successive generation has developed its own reading of the stones; Burl offers the most up-to-date assessment.

Beginning with the victory of Henry Tudor in 1485 and ending with the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, this is a vivid account of a contradictory age of great cultural achievement and terrible violence. Opulent life at court, voyages of discovery, scholarship and the flowering of English drama are juxtaposed with poverty, the narrow lives of peasants, harsh justice and war. First published as The Tudor Age.

Travelling hundreds of miles to trade and fight, the Vikings were undoubtedly great seafarers. But were they noble heathens or oafish pirates? How much do archaeological discoveries agree with what we read in the sagas? What happened to the Vikings as Christianity spread? This concise study addresses these questions by focusing on the lives of some of the most famous Vikings.

Described by Derek Wilson as 'a magnificent piece of propaganda', Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII depicts a proud, belligerent and powerful monarch. Wilson argues that a realistic understanding of Henry requires 'the rejection of this forceful icon' and, drawing on a lifetime's work on this period, his study provides a fresh assessment of the king's character and his response to the bewildering changes of the Renaissance and Reformation era.

The history of the Normans began a long time before William the Conqueror arrived in England in 1066. In this absorbing and accessible introduction, Professor Neveux describes the 'extraordinary Norman adventure' that changed the landscape and culture of Europe, from the first Viking raids of the eighth century to the defeat of the Normans in Sicily in the mid 13th century. Translated by Howard Curtis.

The Druids have been perceived, and misunderstood, in many different ways – from the barbaric priests making human sacrifices the Romans described, to ancient exponents of 'New Age' philosophy. Peter Beresford Ellis sifts through archaeological, etymological and Greek and Roman written evidence to provide a fully researched account of the Druids, revealing them as the intellectual caste – the doctors, lawyers, ambassadors and advisors – of ancient Celtic society