The Oxford Book of Work


Book Description

Compiled by a respected social historian, this unique anthology on the changing experience of work draws upon more than 500 writers from classical antiquity to modern times.




The Oxford Book of Exploration


Book Description

Selected by Robin Hanbury-Tenison, whom the Sunday Times called the 'greatest explorer of the last twenty years', this is a comprehensive anthology of the writings of explorers through the ages, now fully revised and updated. The ultimate in travel writing, these are the words of those who changed the world through their pioneering search for new lands, new peoples, and new experiences. Divided into geographical sections, the book takes us to Asia with Vasco da Gama, Francis Younghusband, and Wilfred Thesiger, to the Americas with John Cabot, Sir Francis Drake, and Alexander Von Humboldt, to Africa with Dr David Livingstone and Mary Kingsley, to the Pacific with Ferdinand Magellan and James Cook, and to the Poles with Robert Peary and Wally Herbert. Driven by a desire to discover that transcends all other considerations, the vivid writings of these extraordinary people reveal what makes them go beyond the possible and earn the right to be known as explorers.




The Oxford Book of Oxford


Book Description

In this entertaining and lively anthology, Jan Morris traces the history of Oxford University from its foundation in the Middle Ages through to the twentieth century, combining extracts from contemporary observers with her own informative commentary. The reader is invited to view the development of the college system, the creation of the Bodleian, Magdalen's defiance of James II, Newman, and the Oxford Movement. The life and times of Oxford are exalted or derided by writers ranging from the antiquarian Anthony Wood to Evelyn Waugh, Dr. Johnson and Mr. Gladstone, Hilaire Belloc and Thomas Hardy. Unworldly scholars and eccentric dons walk the pages, accompanied by the great characters of Oxford such as Benjamin Jowett, Sir Maurice Bowra, and William Spooner.




The Oxford Book of Essays


Book Description

The essay is one of the richest of literary forms. Its most obvious characteristics are freedom, informality, and the personal touch--though it can also find room for poetry, satire, fantasy, and sustained argument. All these qualities, and many others, are on display in The Oxford Book of Essays. The most wide-ranging collection of its kind to appear for many years, it includes 140 essays by 120 writers: classics, curiosities, meditations, diversions, old favorites, recent examples that deserve to be better known. A particularly welcome feature is the amount of space allotted to American essayists, from Benjamin Franklin to John Updike and beyond. This is an anthology that opens with wise words about the nature of truth, and closes with a consideration of the novels of Judith Krantz. Some of the other topics discussed in its pages are anger, pleasure, Gandhi, Beau Brummell, wasps, party-going, gangsters, plumbers, Beethoven, potato crisps, the importance of being the right size, and the demolition of Westminster Abbey. It contains some of the most eloquent writing in English, and some of the most entertaining.




The Oxford Book of Exile


Book Description

From the moment Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise, exile has been a part of the human experience. The circumstances in which individuals or entire peoples are compelled to leave their homeland are as various as they are numerous, and in this book John Simpson has brought together examples of exile from all over the world, and from all periods of history. The emphasis is on personal experience, with writers from Ovid to Solzhenitsyn describing their exile, their emotions, their struggle and their despair. For those who have chosen a life in exile, the response is more mixed: ambivalence about the country they have left and the country they have chosen suffuses the writing of intellectuals seeking freedom of speech, as of ex-pats living in India or Australia. Those persecuted for their faith or their politics rub shoulders with those fleeing from war, or from debt, or even from the weather. Castaways and spies, premiers and princes describe their departure, their reception and sometimes their return, in an anthology that is by turns inspiring, moving, and deeply thought-provoking. With sources ranging from police records, newspaper articles, interviews, letters and memoirs, as well as verse and fiction, and settings as remote as Iran and Russia, China and Palestine, The Oxford Book of Exile provides a fascinating insight into an experience that touches so many, and captures the imagination of us all.




The Oxford Book of Health Foods


Book Description

Health foods and dietary supplements are widely used throughout the world - it is estimated that more than seventy million people in Europe regularly buy these products, and it is a billion dollar business in the USA. Health foods include vitamins, minerals, cereals, nuts, herbal medicines, functional foods, and many others. A large number of people use these foods in the belief that they contribute to their general health, while, in most countries, little or no information is given on products explaining their therapeutic values. The Oxford Book of Health Foods begins with an account of modern concepts of human nutrition, followed by a series of over one hundred accounts of individual health foods and dietary supplements. In all cases the importance of these products in human health is explained, and, for herbal medicines, the evidence for their claimed therapeutic value is given, and toxic effects are described. Full-colour illustrations accompany these accounts. The Oxford Book of Health Foods will be of interest not just to health professionals, but to all people with an interest in health foods and healthy eating. The text is supplemented throughout by beautifully drawn botanical illustrations.




The Oxford Book of Ages


Book Description

This ingenious anthology of quotations compiles the wit and wisdom of some of the more remarkable figures of the past and present, as they reflect on their achievements, aspirations--and what it means to be a certain age.




The Oxford Book of London


Book Description

No city in the world has so consistently stimulated the literary imagination as London. Over the centuries, writers, poets, historians, artists, and simple observers have chronicled the life and growth of this intriguing city. In his sparkling anthology, Paul Bailey has captured the essence of London's allure, from the Middle Ages to the present day, with wit, humor, and pathos.




The Oxford Book of Women's Writing in the United States


Book Description

"A sumptuous selection of short fiction and poetry. . . . Its invitation to share the passion of women's voices characterizes the entire volume."--"USA Today."




The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing


Book Description

Selected and introduced by Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a celebration of the finest writing by scientists for a wider audience - revealing that many of the best scientists have displayed as much imagination and skill with the pen as they have in the laboratory.This is a rich and vibrant collection that captures the poetry and excitement of communicating scientific understanding and scientific effort from 1900 to the present day. Professor Dawkins has included writing from a diverse range of scientists, some of whom need no introduction, and some of whoseworks have become modern classics, while others may be less familiar - but all convey the passion of great scientists writing about their science.