1066 And All That: New Phrase Book Rewrites English

A former teacher of English has written a phrase book with a difference: In Hastings, 1066 - Words We'd Wield if We'd Won, David Cowley has used an extensive knowledge of the language to show a modern English stripped of Norman-French, with its original Anglo-Saxon words intact.

The results are a mix of the startlingly different and surprisingly familiar, as these examples show:

May I ask a question? - May I ask a frayn?
Think positively! - Think winly!
Such impatience! - Such unthild!
With little modesty - With little shamefastness
Making progress - Making forthship
Be discrete - Be sidely
A duty to be done - An oughting to be done
A precious heritage - A dearworth yearve
The court believed you were innocent of the accusation - The hove believed you to be unsinny of the wraying
Peace agreement - Frith thwearing

Cowley sees fun and serious sides to the work: "Hastings meant the English elite and official use of Old English were swept aside by the Normans. French words ousted many English ones, so we've ended up speaking and even thinking differently. There's a fun element in pretending we won at Hastings, but the alternative sayings can really make you think it's a pity we lost that way of expressing things."

Hastings, 1066 - Words We'd Wield if We'd Won, Bright Pen Books, 51 pages, RRP £3.99
ISBN 978-0-7552-1376-4


http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/book/1125/Hastings+1066+-+Words+We'd+Wield+If+We'd+Won/

(EDITOR: This will make an absolutely first rate stocking filler, this Christmas)

Busy Mums: The Perfect Short Story For Busy Mums Looking For A Quick Read

More romantic than vampires but with an equally alluring agenda, Blake is a brand new, fantasy ebook set between the worlds of fantasy and reality. Available to download from Amazon for just £1.71, Blake is pure escapism.

An intriguing short story that instantly captures the reader's imagination, Blake features a young woman named Ebony who embarks upon on an emotional journey that sees her discover just what mystery surrounds this new guy in town. Little does she know, the same mystery surrounds her identity too, leading her to discover her new self along with the enchanted world of Elmwood...

Take time for you and enjoy this magical short story during elevenses' or when the children are in bed. Read at your convenience and travel to the unknown world of Elmwood for a truly enchanting escape with this perfect quick read.

Available to download from Amazon for the Kindle, Mac, PC and iPad, Blake is available now.

Mercadzil And The November Bird by Anne S. Boryer

The fat old witch Mercadzil is fed up. Nothing interesting has happened for ages, no one has asked her for a spell, and the custard in her spell-pot has developed a horrible thick skin. Perhaps her old wizard friend Keekalee can cheer her up?

But when she drags out her broomstick and takes her fat cat Jones to visit Keekalee, they are in for an awful surprise. Keekalee is at the mercy of the terrifying Spikley, a witch who will stop at nothing to get power for herself. How can Mercadzil save her old friend? Without a thought for her own safety, she rushes into action ... and finds herself plunged into an astonishing magical adventure.

Mercadizil and the November Bird has 14 enchanting and bewitching black and white drawings that children will adore!

Anne Boryer, a member of MENSA, worked for many years as Head Library Manager at Plumpton College in East Sussex. She lives near Lewes and this is her first children's book. Yes, she does have a cat...and a cauldron!

£7.99 Hardback

978-1-84624-636-4 216 x 135 mm

Magical adventure for 7 - 9 year olds

The Forest of Kings

The Forest of Kings is a large and well-illustrated tale. Appropriately it is published by Far Far Away Books, as it is a story set in a time of long, long ago.

It is set in France in 1468. It is a story of love and of loss, of valiant knights of the old Royal Court of France.

It is also a story of friendships and of duties, of honour of kings and the love of a little boy and his friend, the fox.

It is a story for reading to your little ones and will make a wonderful Christmas present. Visit www.farfarawaybooks.com for details.

Harry Potter - A Christian Chronicle?

Foreword by Christina Rees
Written by Sonia Falaschi-Ray

£9.99
Paperback

978-1-84624-681-4

This is a positive Christian slant on the ever-popular teenage wizard, Harry Potter.

Ever since their earliest publication, controversy has surrounded the Harry Potter books in religious circles, with many believing that they promote un-Christian values and might encourage children to explore and even become involved with the occult.

Church of England priest Sonia Falaschi-Ray believes quite the opposite to be true, and in Harry Potter: A Christian Chronicle she makes a compelling case for the books as enshrining, upholding and promoting Christian morality and spiritual truth.

The book includes a comprehensive study guide, which allows readers to delve deeper into the Christian parallels and symbolism contained in Harry Potter, and by doing so deepen their own knowledge of the Bible and themselves.

Whether you are a practising Christian, a Harry Potter fan, or both, this absorbing little book guarantees to entertain and provoke valuable debate.

The Reverend Sonia Falaschi-Ray is a priest in the Church of England, ministering in and around Cambridge. She graduated in Theology & Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge and studies for the ministry at Ridley Hall Anglican Theological Training College. She lives in Barkway, Hertfordshire with her husband John and their golden retriever, Quintus.

The author was originally a high-flying financial analyst in the city, before receiving her calling and becoming a female minister.

The book is said to be a balanced and positive Christian view of the hugely popular Harry Potter franchise


www.bookguild.co.uk

A Heart For Africa By Moira Cooke

What makes an African person? Do they have to have black skin, to have been born there, or to have had African parents? None of which incidentally apply to Moira Cooke, author of ‘A Heart for Africa’.

Being an African person means being tough when faced with situations, like the time an orphaned girl of eight asked Moira if she would be her mother. It means making tough decisions, like why the Tanworth Starfish Fund, the charity run by the Cookes, can pick up this particular starfish but not that one. It means knowing how to react when a wrinkled old villager, or a prisoner on a manslaughter charge, or a community desperate for a school, a clinic and a borehole says, and with absolute conviction, “God has sent you to us!”

Yet, as the title suggests, you have to have a real heart for the place in order to keep going back and back to a continent where there is so much suffering and where, what charity workers like Moira and husband Robert achieve, may at times seem like no more than a drop in the ocean of human suffering

Yet this, Moira’s second book, is no dreary tale of hardship and poverty. Nor is it simply a liturgy of praise for the charity work the Cookes have done in both rural and urban Zambia. Rather it is a warts and all look at life in twenty-first century Zambia.

Think of the insight of Alexander McCall Smith combined with the adventurous spirit of Bill Bryson, and a dash of the passion of Karen Blixen to season the mix. If you enjoyed Moira’s first book, ‘Bwanakula Thandi’, then this second book, telling the story of the rest of the Starfish projects in Zambia, is a more than worthy follow up.

Read about Mr Banda, as slippery a head teacher as you’re ever likely to encounter. Empathise with pint-sized George, the ex high court judge now become chef, who sees off the white opposition. And laugh and cry along with Mr Chipotyo, the size of whose personality is perhaps only surpassed by the size of his glasses. Above all, muddle through with the Cookes as they work out what to do with the gift of a live and kicking goat or get stranded for five hours out in rural Zambia.

‘Moira has an engaging and pacey style of writing, as well as being moving, interesting and thought provoking. ‘A Heart for Africa’ is entertaining too and well worth a read. I know I bought it!’ Val Jennings Team Times November 2011.

An extract from A Heart for Africa is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk

The Lawyer Who Couldn't Sit Still By Michael Simmons

The jetsetting adventures of a well-travelled legal professional


Hardback

£16.99

978-1-84624-630-2

In this absorbing biography, Michael Simmons takes us on a journey through his long, colourful legal career, spanning some 50 years and almost as many countries. From his early years practising in the City of London to his travels - for business, pleasure and often both - to Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and America, The Lawyer Who Couldn't Sit Still is packed with humour, wit and deep insight into the ways and wiles of the legal profession, which inevitably holds a mirror up to human nature itself.

Whether you are a lawyer, incurable traveller, both or neither, the author's breezy style and gift for conjuring up far-away sights, sounds and cultures make this book a true delight from start to finish.

After graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Michael Simmons began a long and fruitful career as a lawyer, which as this book attests, took him all over the world. He remains a non-practising consultant at his current firm, and in his capacity as a management consultant, legal journalist and writer has delivered lectures to fellow professionals worldwide. He lives in London W14.

Sharply observed and appealingly compact biography by a leading lawyer with 50 years experience

Will appeal to anyone with an interest in law, and also the armchair traveller. Will make an ideal Christmas gift.

Revelations about his many interesting clients, including hoteliers in Africa, a prince in Dubai and a rock star in Sardinia

www.bookguild.co.uk