Newest Reference Reviews

The Classic Guide to King Arthur (Classic Guides) by Dr Keith Souter

Reference

This is a comprehensive guide to the Arthurian legend, with the first half taking readers through the tale from Merlin helping Uther Pendragon to sleep with Gorlois - thus giving birth to King Arthur - right up to the deaths of all of the principal players in the story. The final section gives details of literary sources used for the legend, Arthurian poetry, folklore, the real people who may have inspired the legend, and depictions of King Arthur in popular culture. In between, there's a fairly short but useful guide to 'Who, What, Where and When In Arthur's Realm'. Full review...

Pocket World in Figures 2013 by The Economist

Reference

Pocket World in Figures 2013 is the twenty-second edition of the annual bestseller and once again it follows the tried and tested format. It opens with world rankings and is straight into natural facts - the largest this, the longest that and the highest of the other. The facts are largely incontrovertible, mostly unsurprising and they're going to be the same year after year. Populations do change though as do their rate of growth. India looks set to overtake China as the largest population by 2025 but even India doesn't have the fastest growing population - that's Niger, with an average annual growth of 3.52%. By contrast, Russia which currently has the ninth largest population, is declining at 0.1% annually. If you're looking for the place with the densest population (as in people per square kilometre rather than in terms of intelligence!) then that's Macau. Full review...

Hello Kitty Dictionary by Various

Children's Non-Fiction

The Hello Kitty Dictionary takes a concept that many young students might not find too interesting (me, on the other hand, I love books full of words) and puts a colourful and fun spin on it. Because if you’re having to look up how to spell a word, or what something means, it helps to have pages with lemon and violet and aquamarine borders, dotted with presents and hearts and stars. That’s not to say the dictionary isn’t clear and easy to read because it certainly is: the decorations don’t extend into the centre of the pages, and the entries themselves are bold fuchsia followed by neat black explanations, all neatly formatted on crisp white pages. Full review...

Strictly English: The correct way to write ... and why it matters by Simon Heffer

Business and Finance

As a child I was taught English grammar. I began by resenting it but gradually I appreciated the subtlety and nuances of expression that could be achieved by the correct use of language. I loved the fact that I could say something precisely and convey exactly what I meant in a few words. And then I was stunned to find that there was no longer the same emphasis on grammar in schools, that freedom of expression was encouraged without worrying about the form it took – and now I regularly encounter official letters, even books where the English language is subjected to grievous bodily harm. It isn't difficult to get right – it just requires a little knowledge, a logical mind and practice. Full review...