{"title":"Mark Forsyth","description":"\u003cp\u003eMark Forsyth’s books invite readers into the playful and profound worlds of language, history, and culture. Whether exploring the witty intricacies of rhetoric in \u003cem\u003eThe Elements of Eloquence\u003c\/em\u003e or uncovering curious tales behind words in \u003cem\u003eThe Etymologicon\u003c\/em\u003e, his writing is both intelligent and accessible, blending scholarly insight with lively storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom charming children’s tales like \u003cem\u003eA Riddle for a King\u003c\/em\u003e to fascinating explorations of social habits and history, Forsyth’s works engage a diverse audience. His unique approach enriches readers' understanding of language, history, and the subtle arts of expression.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"a-short-history-of-drunkenness-by-mark-forsyth-9780241359242","title":"A Short History of Drunkenness","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA comic history of humankind's love affair with booze, from the Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThe Etymologicon.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlmost every culture on earth has drink, and where there's drink there's drunkenness. But in every age and in every place, drunkenness is a little bit different. It can be religious, it can be sexual, it can be the duty of kings or the relief of peasants. It can be an offering to the ancestors, or a way of marking the end of a day's work. It can send you to sleep or send you into battle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Short History of Drunkenness\u003c\/em\u003e traces humankind's love affair with booze from our primate ancestors through to Prohibition, answering every possible question along the way: What did people drink? How much? Who did the drinking? Of the many possible reasons, why?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the way, learn about the Neolithic Shamans, who drank to communicate with the spirit world (no pun intended), marvel at how Greeks got giddy and Romans got rat-arsed, and find out how bars in the Wild West were never quite like in the movies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a history of the world at its inebriated best.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46338490269932,"sku":"9780241359242","price":26.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/25391753482273.jpg?v=1743732334"},{"product_id":"a-riddle-for-a-king-times-childrens-book-of-the-week-from-the-bestselling-author-of-the-etymologicon-by-mark-forsyth-9781788453165","title":"A Riddle for a King (Times Children’s Book of the Week, from the bestselling author of the Etymologicon)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Riddle for a King\u003c\/em\u003e is an enchanting tale by the bestselling author of the \u003cem\u003eEtymologicon\u003c\/em\u003e. Philo longs for freedom and adventure, and he most certainly gets it when he lands in the strangest of lands: a place where nothing makes sense, a place packed with riddles and paradoxes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWill Philo ever make it home? Will he make sense of the conundrums that litter his path?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn addictive, delightfully bamboozling story sure to thrill and intrigue puzzle-loving readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46741133361388,"sku":"9781788453165","price":19.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9e3b9894ad880af6ed732c66c6484bdd.jpg?v=1755603300"},{"product_id":"rhyme-and-reason-by-mark-forsyth-9781805465287","title":"Rhyme and Reason","description":"Some people worry that they don't appreciate poetry; but English poetry wasn't written to be appreciated it was written to be enjoyed. For six centuries people have been reading poetry for enjoyment - for fun, for romance, for religion and for entertainment - and this is a book about those people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat was it like to be sent a Tudor love sonnet? And how did you reply? What did people think of Wordsworth or Chaucer before they were put on pedestals? What was it like to read poetry back in the days when you didn't have to write an essay on it afterwards?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRhyme and Reason takes you from a medieval accountant (called Chaucer) trying to entertain his lord, past a doomed love affair in the Tower of London, through adoring sonnets and notebooks filled with dirty poems, through Byromania and the Victorian hearth, understanding why people simply enjoyed poetry. From the poems of housemaids to the rhymes of kings it's the history of Britain through the poems that people read, recited and loved.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this book, you will discover:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLord Byron sold more books in a day than Jane Austen did in her lifetime.\u003cbr\u003eIf Louis XVI had been as keen on governing France as he was on English poetry, he might have kept his head.\u003cbr\u003eDuring the First World War there were more women poets published than soldier poets.\u003cbr\u003eThe greatest fraud in literary history (and why you've never heard of it)\u003cbr\u003eHow to have fun at a seventeenth century hanging\u003cbr\u003eHow to really annoy Henry VIII (either with a fart joke, or with true love)\u003cbr\u003eHow a kitchen-maid became one of the most popular poets of the 18th Century\u003cbr\u003eWhat Byron really thought of 'Johnny Keats's piss-a-bed poetry'\u003cbr\u003eWhy the Globe Theatre was more than twice the size of Wembley Stadium","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47288737988844,"sku":"9781805465287","price":31.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/8fe6d38c040dd5808412e06f6dabc083.jpg?v=1770605010"},{"product_id":"the-elements-of-eloquence-by-mark-forsyth-9780425276181","title":"The Elements of Eloquence","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the #1 international bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Etymologicon\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Horologicon\u003c\/i\u003e comes an education in the art of articulation, from the King James Bible to Katy Perry…\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom classic poetry to pop lyrics, from Charles Dickens to Dolly Parton, even from Jesus to James Bond, Mark Forsyth explains the secrets that make a phrase—such as “O Captain! 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