Coco Chanel. Axel Madsen. Bloomsbury, 2009.
This biography of one of the twentieth century's greatest fashion icons, first published in the UK in 1990, has now been reissued to coincide with the biopic Coco avant Chanel. It is the story of Coco Chanel, whose genius for fashion may have been distilled in simplicity, but whose life was an extravaganza. A brilliant array of luminaries fell under her spell – Picasso, Churchill, Cocteau; lovers included the Grand Duke Dmitri; the English roué, Boy Capel; a French poet; a German spy and the Duke of Westminster, who offered to leave his wife for her permanently, if she would only bear him an heir. Chanel’s rise from penniless orphan to millionaire designer – ‘inventing’ sportswear, the little black dress and No. 5 – makes compelling reading, not least because she was inclined to design her own life as deftly as she did her fashions.
The Age of Turbulence. Alan Greenspan. Penguin, 2008.
The most remarkable thing that happened to the world economy after 9/11 was... nothing. What would have once meant a crippling shock to the system was absorbed astonishingly quickly, partly due to the efforts of the then Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan. The post 9/11 global economy is a new and turbulent system — vastly more flexible, resilient, open, self-directing, and fast-changing than it was even twenty years ago. The Age of Turbulence is an incomparable reckoning with the nature of this new world — how we got here, what we're living through, and what lies over the horizon, for good or ill, channelled through Greenspan's own experiences working in the command room of the global economy for longer, and with greater effect, than any other single living figure.
The Kennedy Legacy. Jack, Bobby and Ted and the family dream fulfilled. Vincent Bzdek. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
The closing of Ted Kennedy's chapter in America's political and cultural life means that, for the first time perhaps, the real measure of the Kennedy legacy can finally be taken. John, Robert and Ted's individual stories can be seen as essentially one now, each successive brother striving to fulfil the interrupted promise of the brother before. This is a story of a brotherhood in three acts: Act I is John F. Kennedy's presidency, as seen from Ted's front-row seat; Act II is Robert Kennedy's five brief years as the family standard bearer, including his tenure in the Senate with his brother Ted, and the memorable 82-day campaign that redefined the Kennedy legacy. Act III is Ted's 40-plus years in the Senate as keeper of the flame.
How did the brothers pass the torch to each other? What have the three brothers left us collectively? And who carries the torch now? The Kennedy Legacy compellingly answers these questions and much more.
Oxford Paperback French Dictionary. Third Edition. Edited by Marianne Chalmers, Rosalind Combley, Catherine Roux, and Laura Wedgeworth. Oxford University Press, 2002.
This dictionary is ideal for anyone who requires an up-to-date French dictionary covering all essential vocabulary: general users, holiday-makers, travellers, or business people. It has been completely revised and updated to cover the latest vocabulary: over 100,000 words, phrases, and translations, an up-to-date coverage of all essential vocabulary, and a special treatment of key words: frequently-used words, which are the building blocks to learning the language, are given a special layout and usage notes to help users deal with them correctly.
The dictionary also includes a guide to French pronunciation and French verb tables.
English Result iTools. Mark Hancock and Annie McDonald. Oxford University Press, 2010.
The English Result iTools offers teachers new, interactive, whiteboard-friendly material that brings fresh stimulus to language lessons. It is available for the elementary, pre-intermediate, and intermediate English levels. English Result iTools features content from the Student's Book that has been chosen specifically for its interactive potential in class - the activities and extra resources create ways of engaging and motivating students. The full-colour Teacher's Guide shows teachers exactly when to use the digital English Result material, helping them teach with ease and confidence. English Result iTools works on any interactive whiteboard, eBeam, or can also be used on a computer with a data projector.
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.
