An Atlas of Endangered Alphabets

An Atlas of Endangered Alphabets
Author: Tim Brookes
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 379
Release: 2024-08-29
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1529408253

A global exploration of the many writing systems that are on the verge of vanishing, and the stories and cultures they carry with them. If something is important, we write it down. Yet 85% of the world's writing systems are on the verge of vanishing - not granted official status, not taught in schools, discouraged and dismissed. When a culture is forced to abandon its traditional script, everything it has written for hundreds of years - sacred texts, poems, personal correspondence, legal documents, the collective experience, wisdom and identity of a people - is lost. This Atlas is about those writing systems, and the people who are trying to save them. From the ancient holy alphabets of the Middle East, now used only by tiny sects, to newly created African alphabets designed to keep cultural traditions alive in the twenty-first century: from a Sudanese script based on the ownership marks traditionally branded into camels, to a secret system used in one corner of China exclusively by women to record the songs and stories of their inner selves: this unique book profiles dozens of scripts and the cultures they encapsulate, offering glimpses of worlds unknown to us - and ways of saving them from vanishing entirely.

Endangered Alphabets

Endangered Alphabets
Author: Tim Brookes
Publisher:
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2010
Genre: Alphabet in art
ISBN: 9780984196777

"The world has more than 6,000 languages, but those languages are written in fewer than 100 alphabets--more than a third of which are endangered. Oddly gnarly or staggeringly beautiful, all of them embody the history and intellectual achievements of their cultures. Some are now used only in ceremonial documents, some in magic spells, some in secret love letters. In this groundbreaking project, author Tim Brookes has carved thirteen of these endangered alphabets into stunning boards of Vermont maple, using as his text Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.' This book is both the catalogue for that exhibition and an essay on writing from a unique perspective--that of a writer who is discovering new forms of writing by carving them before they vanish."--cover, p.4

The Prodigal Tongue

The Prodigal Tongue
Author: Lynne Murphy
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2018-04-10
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1524704881

CHOSEN BY THE ECONOMIST AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English “English accents are the sexiest.” “Americans have ruined the English language.” Such claims about the English language are often repeated but rarely examined. Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language. With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?

The Driveway Diaries

The Driveway Diaries
Author: Tim Brookes
Publisher: Turtle Point Press
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2005
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

Irresistably warm and wry observations by a migrant essayist from old England to New England.

Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
Author: Christopher Moseley
Publisher: UNESCO
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9231040960

Languages are not only tools of communication, they also reflect a view of the world. Languages are vehicles of value systems and cultural expressions and are an essential component of the living heritage of humanity. Yet, many of them are in danger of disappearing. UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger tries to raise awareness on language endangerment. This third edition has been completely revised and expanded to include new series of maps and new points of view.

Maya Atlas

Maya Atlas
Author: Toledo Maya Cultural Council
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 175
Release: 1997
Genre: Mayas
ISBN: 1556432569

Covers human, natural, and cultural resources, history, rainforest management, and current problems in Maya lands.

Magpie Lane

Magpie Lane
Author: Lucy Atkins
Publisher: Quercus
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2020-02-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1784293849

'Riveting, twisty, page-turning stuff' Guardian A 'best books of 2020' pick for BBC Radio 4 Open Book, the Guardian, the Telegraph and Good Housekeeping 'The page turner you've been looking for. Sly, witty and gripping . . . I devoured it' Naomi Alderman 'An utter joy . . . wonderfully skilled' Sarah Perry 'Beguiling, brilliantly creepy, and an utterly compelling read' Claire Fuller 'Tender, creepy and gripping' Sunday Times 'Spellbinding and spooky . . . a dazzling high wire act, superbly absorbing' Sunday Mirror When the eight-year-old daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers. As Dee looks back over her time in the Master's Lodging - an eerie and ancient house - a picture of a high achieving but dysfunctional family emerges: Nick, the fiercely intelligent and powerful father; his beautiful Danish wife Mariah, pregnant with their child; and the lost little girl, Felicity, almost mute, seeing ghosts, grieving her dead mother. But is Dee telling the whole story? Is her growing friendship with the eccentric house historian, Linklater, any cause for concern? And most of all, why is Felicity silent? Roaming Oxford's secret passages and hidden graveyards, Magpie Lane explores the true meaning of family - and what it is to be denied one. 'Enthralling . . . creepy and compelling' The Times 'Deliciously dark' Alexandra Shulman 'A gorgeously satisfying triumph' Lucy Mangan 'A rare thing . . . simply stunning' Daily Express 'I was gripped . . . highly original' Alex Clark 'Creepy, suspenseful' Independent 'One of the most intriguing narrators since Notes on a Scandal' Sara Collins 'Grown-up and cleverly written . . . a dizzying sense of uncertainty' Literary Review 'Keeps you guessing . . . a real sense of menace' Good Housekeeping 'Wholly beguiling' Mick Herron 'Dazzlingly good' Diane Setterfield 'Beautiful writing' Polly Samson 'Clever, tense and twisty' Amanda Craig 'Highly intelligent' Sarah Vaughan 'Simply brilliant!' JP Delaney 'Darkly atmospheric' Jane Fallon 'Clever and creepy' Erin Kelly 'Highly recommended' Louise Candlish

Kingdom of Twilight

Kingdom of Twilight
Author: Steven Uhly
Publisher: MacLehose Press
Total Pages: 746
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1635060672

"POWERFUL AND ORIGINAL." --THE TIMES "REWARDING AND WHOLLY ENGAGING." --HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY "ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND POWERFUL NOVELS OF RECENT GERMAN LITERATURE." --DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTUR Hypnotically lyrical and intensely moving, Steven Uhly's epic novel set in the wake of World War II is a finely nuanced yet shattering exploration of universal themes: love, hatred, doubt, survival, guilt, humanity, and redemption. One night in autumn 1944, a gunshot echoes through the alleyways of a small town in occupied Poland. An SS officer is shot dead by a young Polish Jew, Margarita Ejzenstain. In retaliation, his commander orders the execution of thirty-seven Poles--one for every year of the dead man's life. First hidden by a sympathetic German couple, Margarita must then flee the brutal advance of the Soviet army with her newborn baby. So begins a thrilling panorama of intermingled destinies and events that reverberate from that single act of defiance. Kingdom of Twilight follows the lives of Jewish refugees and a German family resettled from Bukovina, as well as a former SS officer, chronicling the geographical and psychological dislocation generated by war. A quest for identity and truth takes them from refugee camps to Lübeck, Berlin, Tel Aviv, and New York, as they try to make sense of a changed world, and of their place in it.

The Night Gate

The Night Gate
Author: Peter May
Publisher: riverrun
Total Pages: 461
Release: 2021-03-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 178429506X

THE 12 MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LEWIS TRILOGY AND THE CHINA THRILLERS AWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF THE CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY 2021 'Enzo MacLeod is one of the most unusual crime solvers I have ever met.' BookBrowse 'No one can create a more eloquently written suspense novel than Peter May.' New York Journal of Books In a sleepy French village, the body of a man shot through the head is disinterred by the roots of a fallen tree. A week later a famous art critic is viciously murdered in a nearby house. The deaths occurred more than seventy years apart. Asked by a colleague to inspect the site of the former, forensics expert Enzo Macleod quickly finds himself embroiled in the investigation of the latter. Two extraordinary narratives are set in train - one historical, unfolding in the treacherous wartime years of Occupied France; the other contemporary, set in the autumn of 2020 as France re-enters Covid lockdown. And Enzo's investigations reveal an unexpected link between the murders - the Mona Lisa. Tasked by the exiled General Charles de Gaulle to keep the world's most famous painting out of Nazi hands after the fall of France in 1940, 28-year-old Georgette Pignal finds herself swept along by the tide of history. Following in the wake of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa as it is moved from château to château by the Louvre, she finds herself just one step ahead of two German art experts sent to steal it for rival patrons - Hitler and Göring. What none of them know is that the Louvre itself has taken exceptional measures to keep the painting safe, unwittingly setting in train a fatal sequence of events extending over seven decades. Events that have led to both killings. The Night Gate spans three generations, taking us from war-torn London, the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, Berlin and Vichy France, to the deadly enemy facing the world in 2020. In his latest novel, Peter May shows why he is one of the great contemporary writers of crime fiction. LOVED THE NIGHT GATE? Read the first book in the acclaimed China Thrillers, THE FIREMAKER LOVE PETER MAY? Order his thrilling standalone, A SILENT DEATH

My Nonidentical Twin

My Nonidentical Twin
Author: Evie Meg - This Trippy Hippie
Publisher: Sphere
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2021-10-28
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0751584053

*Order now to read the long-awaited debut book from the huge TikTok sensation Evie Meg | This Trippy Hippie!* Hey guys, you might know me already from one of my social media channels where I talk about the highs and lows of living with Tourette's Syndrome. I've loved sharing those times with you and - as there are lots of things I can't fit into a 60 second video - I've decided to write a book! It's the full story of how I came to be diagnosed and how having Tourette's has changed my life. Writing it has given me an opportunity to talk about things I haven't felt ready to share before - for some reason it's easier to put down private things in written words than in a video! I talk about the many other illnesses I've been through and the dreams that it's affected - about my school days, relationships and my very lowest points - but I also talk about what I've managed to achieve in spite of all the obstacles. I hope it'll make you laugh and make you think, and empower you to realise that no matter what you're facing in life, there are always ways to deal with the challenges. It's also so important to me that people understand what life is like with a disability, so we can be compassionate towards each other. I've bared my soul in this book to hopefully help others to do this. I'm so excited (and just a little bit nervous) for you to read it! Evie Meg xxx