Books in English now available in Slovakia

John Lennon. The Life. Philip Norman. Harper, 2008.

John Lennon. The Life. Philip Norman. Harper, 2008.


For more than quarter of a century Philip Norman’s internationally bestselling Shout! has been unchallenged as the definitive biography of the Beatles. Now, at last, Norman turns his formidable talent to the one Beatle for whom belonging to the world’s most beloved pop groups was never enough. By drawing on previously untapped sources and with unprecedented access to all the major characters, Norman’s biography of John Lennon is the most complete and revealing portrait of the legendary musician that may ever be published.



Four Revenge Tragedies. Edited by Katharine Eisaman Maus. Oxford University Press, 2008.


The Oxford English Drama series offers plays from the 16th century to early 20th century in selections that make available both rarely printed and canonical works. Revenge tragedies of the English Renaissance feature persons who prosecute a crime in a private capacity, testifying to a yearning for justice which is often in contrast with the means used to fulfil that desire. This book features four such plays: The Spanish Tragedy, The Revenger’s Tragedy, The Revenge of Bussy D’ambois and The Atheist’s Tragedy.

Confucius from the Heart. Yu Dan. Macmillan, 2009.


A 10-million-copy Chinese bestseller, Confucius from the Heart began as a series of television lectures which took China by storm, propelling Yu Dan to the top of the bestseller lists and to national and international fame. In it, Yu Dan blows away the cobwebs of thousands of years of academic study on Confucius’ thought and gives him back to ordinary people. She peels away the reverent approach of the scholars and shows that the truths that Confucius offers are always the easiest of truths.



Oxford Phrasal Verbs. Oxford University Press, 2006.


The dictionary of phrasal verbs aspires to help the learner to understand phrasal verbs and learn to use them confidently. It comprises more than 100 synonym notes which explain phrasal verbs and one-word verbs with similar meanings so one can make the right choice. It includes 1,000 more phrasal verbs, idioms and examples, and nouns and adjectives that come from phrasal verbs than did the previous edition.



Oxford English for Careers: Commerce. Martyn Hobbs and Julia Starr Keddle. Oxford University Press, 2007.


Oxford English for Careers is a course that teaches learners what they need to know for a career in commerce – to learn the practical English language to do the job, to practise language in real work situations and learn specialist vocabulary. It provides the learner with the language, information and skills they need to start a career: in particular, speaking and writing skills.


The student’s book is accompanied by a teacher’s resource book.



Newspapers. Resource Book for Teachers. Peter Grundy. Oxford University Press, 2009.


This resource book for teachers contains about 100 creative and original ideas for making effective use of the wealth of readily available, authentic English-language texts in newspapers. The activities are practical and most need little teacher preparation. The aim of the book is to give students the confidence to buy and read English-language newspapers for themselves. There are many original reading and writing activities and a range of ideas for student project work.



This column is a selection by The Slovak Spectator of English-language books recently released in Slovakia; it does not represent an endorsement of any of the books selected. The column is prepared in cooperation with the Oxford Bookshop Bratislava, now located at Laurinská 9 in Bratislava.


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