ESSENTIAL for the regular player, 05 Nov 2008
Most things have been covered in other reviews here, but I ought to add that if like me, your Scrabble games are punctuated with 'debates' (ok - arguments) about the validity of words, this will change your Scrabble-playing life!

There are older editions available too, under the name OSW (Official Scrabble Words), which can sometimes be a cheaper option, but with this book selling at a reduced price like it is now, seize the moment and buy one - you won't regret it!

Just as described, 14 Apr 2008
This book seems to be exactly as described, and is perfect for UK Scrabble words. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive dictionary in so far as only words upto nine letters are included, and the descriptions are short. However it is great for Scrabble, and crucially includes all variations of a word such as plural, different tense etc. Fully worth the money!

has all those unusual words you only use in Scrabble, 21 Jan 2008
For years I would judge a dictionary on it's quality by whether it had the words qat, zex, and jow in it, which of course none of them do, unless you pay an arm and a leg and get a dictionary that weighs an absolute tonne! Then I discovered this handy little volume which has all those strange scrabble words, a brief description (usually one word description), and my search was over. This dictionary is marvelous. Definately a must for anyone wanting to improve their game, or to silence those challenges over dubious looking words.

Recommended for even casual players of all word games, 08 Nov 2007
This book is brilliant for all families that enjoy casual word games.

It is comprehensive and authoritative, so it contains all the words that should be allowed in a word game, but aren't in grandma's 1963 edition of the Concise Oxford dictionary that you keep next to Delia on the bookshelf.

Due to it's very brief format and small print, it's small and light. You can take it on holiday with you.

Because it's a dictionary with definitions rather than just a word-list, you can learn what the words mean, which is a great aid to learning.

It can be used for all word games such as Boggle, Upwords etc. not just Scrabble.

Highly recommended

Collins English Dictionary has evolved into a glorious great slab of a reference book since its relatively modest first appearance in 1979. The 2003 version, rooted in the Bank of English, a 524-million word database launched in 1991, is the sixth edition.

Strong on clear definitions, derivations, cross-referencing, acronyms, technical and scientific terms and geographical place names, Collins English Dictionary also includes occasional boxed "language notes". Thus, for example, after "mitigate" we are usefully reminded that "Mitigate is sometimes used where militate is meant: 'His behaviour militates (not mitigates) against his chances of promotion.'" Interestingly, users of English are evidently becoming more relaxed about their language. Seventy words previously deemed taboo, including "arse," "crap" and "wank" are now described merely as slang. Perhaps rows of asterisks will soon be a thing of the past. Language changes continually and so do attitudes to it. There is a distinct sense of celebration in the latest Collins English Dictionary because English is one of the richest and most diverse of the world's languages and it is rapidly becoming a global lingua franca.

Jeremy Butterfield and his colleagues have made a splendid job of recording exactly where English is now. We may need to know what a "sex text" or a "dead-cat bounce" is today but, perhaps, in the quite near future such terms will fall out of use. That's why dictionaries need to be continuously updated, leaving earlier editions as reference works for language historians to study. It's also what makes dictionaries in general and Collins English Dictionary in particular so fascinating and why word lovers need the latest version on their shelves. --Susan Elkin180,000 referencesHardback (Ref:9.780007229e+012)

ESSENTIAL for the regular player, 05 Nov 2008
Most things have been covered in other reviews here, but I ought to add that if like me, your Scrabble games are punctuated with 'debates' (ok - arguments) about the validity of words, this will change your Scrabble-playing life!

There are older editions available too, under the name OSW (Official Scrabble Words), which can sometimes be a cheaper option, but with this book selling at a reduced price like it is now, seize the moment and buy one - you won't regret it!

Just as described, 14 Apr 2008
This book seems to be exactly as described, and is perfect for UK Scrabble words. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive dictionary in so far as only words upto nine letters are included, and the descriptions are short. However it is great for Scrabble, and crucially includes all variations of a word such as plural, different tense etc. Fully worth the money!

has all those unusual words you only use in Scrabble, 21 Jan 2008
For years I would judge a dictionary on it's quality by whether it had the words qat, zex, and jow in it, which of course none of them do, unless you pay an arm and a leg and get a dictionary that weighs an absolute tonne! Then I discovered this handy little volume which has all those strange scrabble words, a brief description (usually one word description), and my search was over. This dictionary is marvelous. Definately a must for anyone wanting to improve their game, or to silence those challenges over dubious looking words.

Recommended for even casual players of all word games, 08 Nov 2007
This book is brilliant for all families that enjoy casual word games.

It is comprehensive and authoritative, so it contains all the words that should be allowed in a word game, but aren't in grandma's 1963 edition of the Concise Oxford dictionary that you keep next to Delia on the bookshelf.

Due to it's very brief format and small print, it's small and light. You can take it on holiday with you.

Because it's a dictionary with definitions rather than just a word-list, you can learn what the words mean, which is a great aid to learning.

It can be used for all word games such as Boggle, Upwords etc. not just Scrabble.

Highly recommended

Not quite up to standards, 08 Aug 2008
After seeing the good reviews above I feel somewhat guilty about writing a less than glowing one. One of the main purposes of a dictionary is to fill in the gaps in vocabulary. However this dictionary has failed me on several occasions. Try to find the word 'discombobulate' and you will fail miserably. This is not the most obscure word in the English language and if I can't find a word I don't know what's the point in the dictionary?

My new best pal!, 31 Jan 2008
This is The Daddy! I compared this with Oxford, Chambers and Penguin and for me it came out a clear winner. Very clear and includes all those obscure words that the others overlook. It's great value at this price and eats crosswords for breakfast. Just don't drop it on your foot!

Perfect for scrabble and word games, 30 Oct 2007
THE definitive dictionary for all sorts of word games, but especially crosswords and scrabble. Every home should have one and every time I pick it up I discover a new word or one I'd forgotten!

Delightful - modern and new words, 20 Jul 2007
This Collins dictionary consists of mainly new words. There are some words that have been known for a very long time, such as 'devilish', but some fantastically new words!

What a delightful BOOK.
5-star read.

A dictionary's a dictionary, 06 Jul 2005
I think a dictionary's a dictionary, but this edition does have lots of new words, and a nice cover. What more do you want?!

ESSENTIAL for the regular player, 05 Nov 2008
Most things have been covered in other reviews here, but I ought to add that if like me, your Scrabble games are punctuated with 'debates' (ok - arguments) about the validity of words, this will change your Scrabble-playing life!

There are older editions available too, under the name OSW (Official Scrabble Words), which can sometimes be a cheaper option, but with this book selling at a reduced price like it is now, seize the moment and buy one - you won't regret it!

Just as described, 14 Apr 2008
This book seems to be exactly as described, and is perfect for UK Scrabble words. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive dictionary in so far as only words upto nine letters are included, and the descriptions are short. However it is great for Scrabble, and crucially includes all variations of a word such as plural, different tense etc. Fully worth the money!

has all those unusual words you only use in Scrabble, 21 Jan 2008
For years I would judge a dictionary on it's quality by whether it had the words qat, zex, and jow in it, which of course none of them do, unless you pay an arm and a leg and get a dictionary that weighs an absolute tonne! Then I discovered this handy little volume which has all those strange scrabble words, a brief description (usually one word description), and my search was over. This dictionary is marvelous. Definately a must for anyone wanting to improve their game, or to silence those challenges over dubious looking words.

Recommended for even casual players of all word games, 08 Nov 2007
This book is brilliant for all families that enjoy casual word games.

It is comprehensive and authoritative, so it contains all the words that should be allowed in a word game, but aren't in grandma's 1963 edition of the Concise Oxford dictionary that you keep next to Delia on the bookshelf.

Due to it's very brief format and small print, it's small and light. You can take it on holiday with you.

Because it's a dictionary with definitions rather than just a word-list, you can learn what the words mean, which is a great aid to learning.

It can be used for all word games such as Boggle, Upwords etc. not just Scrabble.

Highly recommended

Not quite up to standards, 08 Aug 2008
After seeing the good reviews above I feel somewhat guilty about writing a less than glowing one. One of the main purposes of a dictionary is to fill in the gaps in vocabulary. However this dictionary has failed me on several occasions. Try to find the word 'discombobulate' and you will fail miserably. This is not the most obscure word in the English language and if I can't find a word I don't know what's the point in the dictionary?

My new best pal!, 31 Jan 2008
This is The Daddy! I compared this with Oxford, Chambers and Penguin and for me it came out a clear winner. Very clear and includes all those obscure words that the others overlook. It's great value at this price and eats crosswords for breakfast. Just don't drop it on your foot!

Perfect for scrabble and word games, 30 Oct 2007
THE definitive dictionary for all sorts of word games, but especially crosswords and scrabble. Every home should have one and every time I pick it up I discover a new word or one I'd forgotten!

Delightful - modern and new words, 20 Jul 2007
This Collins dictionary consists of mainly new words. There are some words that have been known for a very long time, such as 'devilish', but some fantastically new words!

What a delightful BOOK.
5-star read.

A dictionary's a dictionary, 06 Jul 2005
I think a dictionary's a dictionary, but this edition does have lots of new words, and a nice cover. What more do you want?!

10 Year olds love it, 14 Nov 2007
I bought it for our kids as a reference book. They sit and read it! The only thing is, it doesn't have the rude words in I remember looking up up as a child.

Also has handy 'usage' boxes which gives direction on how some words cam be used.

Well worth getting in my opinion.

Portable, handy, detailed., 08 Oct 2007
This is the first dictionary I reach for if I want to find a definition of a word. It's also the first book I reach for if I want information on a famous person, or need to know where a particular place is.

In short, it's a dictionary and encyclopedia in one very handy size.

Plus points:
> it's easy to find any of the 120,00 definitions: the letter markers are visible from the outside.
> includes a thorough mid-section on famous people and places
> plentiful grammar and usage boxes (e.g. between diffuse and defuse).

Oh yes, it's also less than £8. A literal bargain.

A favourable lexicon for the parsimonious consumer, 11 Aug 2007
A compendium of 120,000 definitions advances itself as an uncommonly intimidating treatise but, lo, I garnered the tenacity to venture forth on an arduous quest of nigh incomprehensible magnitude. My pursuits of rhetorical erudition were both prolonged and tortuous. Indeed, I must yield that the whimsy of surrender infrequently manifested itself as a courtesan of nectareous temptation. Fortuitously, my resolve was but consolidated when I observed a distention in the radius of my parlance and the tender allure of acquiescence was hastened asunder. Indeed, I can affirm without recourse to fallacy that the juncture of my undertakings culminated most expeditiously- prior to the desistance of the tertiary synodic month.

In short, this exhaustive scholastic glossary of the English idiom was most appeasing to my propensity for the conglomerative acquisition of wisdom (although my spouse Doreen has experienced sufficient discombobulation as to articulate the apprehension that my prevailing manner of discourse is akin to that of a bovine sphincter).

ESSENTIAL for the regular player, 05 Nov 2008
Most things have been covered in other reviews here, but I ought to add that if like me, your Scrabble games are punctuated with 'debates' (ok - arguments) about the validity of words, this will change your Scrabble-playing life!

There are older editions available too, under the name OSW (Official Scrabble Words), which can sometimes be a cheaper option, but with this book selling at a reduced price like it is now, seize the moment and buy one - you won't regret it!

Just as described, 14 Apr 2008
This book seems to be exactly as described, and is perfect for UK Scrabble words. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive dictionary in so far as only words upto nine letters are included, and the descriptions are short. However it is great for Scrabble, and crucially includes all variations of a word such as plural, different tense etc. Fully worth the money!

has all those unusual words you only use in Scrabble, 21 Jan 2008
For years I would judge a dictionary on it's quality by whether it had the words qat, zex, and jow in it, which of course none of them do, unless you pay an arm and a leg and get a dictionary that weighs an absolute tonne! Then I discovered this handy little volume which has all those strange scrabble words, a brief description (usually one word description), and my search was over. This dictionary is marvelous. Definately a must for anyone wanting to improve their game, or to silence those challenges over dubious looking words.

Recommended for even casual players of all word games, 08 Nov 2007
This book is brilliant for all families that enjoy casual word games.

It is comprehensive and authoritative, so it contains all the words that should be allowed in a word game, but aren't in grandma's 1963 edition of the Concise Oxford dictionary that you keep next to Delia on the bookshelf.

Due to it's very brief format and small print, it's small and light. You can take it on holiday with you.

Because it's a dictionary with definitions rather than just a word-list, you can learn what the words mean, which is a great aid to learning.

It can be used for all word games such as Boggle, Upwords etc. not just Scrabble.

Highly recommended

Not quite up to standards, 08 Aug 2008
After seeing the good reviews above I feel somewhat guilty about writing a less than glowing one. One of the main purposes of a dictionary is to fill in the gaps in vocabulary. However this dictionary has failed me on several occasions. Try to find the word 'discombobulate' and you will fail miserably. This is not the most obscure word in the English language and if I can't find a word I don't know what's the point in the dictionary?

My new best pal!, 31 Jan 2008
This is The Daddy! I compared this with Oxford, Chambers and Penguin and for me it came out a clear winner. Very clear and includes all those obscure words that the others overlook. It's great value at this price and eats crosswords for breakfast. Just don't drop it on your foot!

Perfect for scrabble and word games, 30 Oct 2007
THE definitive dictionary for all sorts of word games, but especially crosswords and scrabble. Every home should have one and every time I pick it up I discover a new word or one I'd forgotten!

Delightful - modern and new words, 20 Jul 2007
This Collins dictionary consists of mainly new words. There are some words that have been known for a very long time, such as 'devilish', but some fantastically new words!

What a delightful BOOK.
5-star read.

A dictionary's a dictionary, 06 Jul 2005
I think a dictionary's a dictionary, but this edition does have lots of new words, and a nice cover. What more do you want?!

10 Year olds love it, 14 Nov 2007
I bought it for our kids as a reference book. They sit and read it! The only thing is, it doesn't have the rude words in I remember looking up up as a child.

Also has handy 'usage' boxes which gives direction on how some words cam be used.

Well worth getting in my opinion.

Portable, handy, detailed., 08 Oct 2007
This is the first dictionary I reach for if I want to find a definition of a word. It's also the first book I reach for if I want information on a famous person, or need to know where a particular place is.

In short, it's a dictionary and encyclopedia in one very handy size.

Plus points:
> it's easy to find any of the 120,00 definitions: the letter markers are visible from the outside.
> includes a thorough mid-section on famous people and places
> plentiful grammar and usage boxes (e.g. between diffuse and defuse).

Oh yes, it's also less than £8. A literal bargain.

A favourable lexicon for the parsimonious consumer, 11 Aug 2007
A compendium of 120,000 definitions advances itself as an uncommonly intimidating treatise but, lo, I garnered the tenacity to venture forth on an arduous quest of nigh incomprehensible magnitude. My pursuits of rhetorical erudition were both prolonged and tortuous. Indeed, I must yield that the whimsy of surrender infrequently manifested itself as a courtesan of nectareous temptation. Fortuitously, my resolve was but consolidated when I observed a distention in the radius of my parlance and the tender allure of acquiescence was hastened asunder. Indeed, I can affirm without recourse to fallacy that the juncture of my undertakings culminated most expeditiously- prior to the desistance of the tertiary synodic month.

In short, this exhaustive scholastic glossary of the English idiom was most appeasing to my propensity for the conglomerative acquisition of wisdom (although my spouse Doreen has experienced sufficient discombobulation as to articulate the apprehension that my prevailing manner of discourse is akin to that of a bovine sphincter).

making sense of africa, 24 Sep 2008
I have always been fascinated by Africa. My parents met there as vso volunteers in the 70s and that was how the author first experienced Africa. My parents talked often about their time there but they had such mixed views - love and hate. I bought this because of review and knew I was travelling to Australia so had time to read it. I have not been disappointed. It is passionately written yet highly informed. Above all it makes sense of something I never quite understood. It will be my parents' Christmas present! I must now go to Africa.

ESSENTIAL for the regular player, 05 Nov 2008
Most things have been covered in other reviews here, but I ought to add that if like me, your Scrabble games are punctuated with 'debates' (ok - arguments) about the validity of words, this will change your Scrabble-playing life!

There are older editions available too, under the name OSW (Official Scrabble Words), which can sometimes be a cheaper option, but with this book selling at a reduced price like it is now, seize the moment and buy one - you won't regret it!

Just as described, 14 Apr 2008
This book seems to be exactly as described, and is perfect for UK Scrabble words. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive dictionary in so far as only words upto nine letters are included, and the descriptions are short. However it is great for Scrabble, and crucially includes all variations of a word such as plural, different tense etc. Fully worth the money!

has all those unusual words you only use in Scrabble, 21 Jan 2008
For years I would judge a dictionary on it's quality by whether it had the words qat, zex, and jow in it, which of course none of them do, unless you pay an arm and a leg and get a dictionary that weighs an absolute tonne! Then I discovered this handy little volume which has all those strange scrabble words, a brief description (usually one word description), and my search was over. This dictionary is marvelous. Definately a must for anyone wanting to improve their game, or to silence those challenges over dubious looking words.

Recommended for even casual players of all word games, 08 Nov 2007
This book is brilliant for all families that enjoy casual word games.

It is comprehensive and authoritative, so it contains all the words that should be allowed in a word game, but aren't in grandma's 1963 edition of the Concise Oxford dictionary that you keep next to Delia on the bookshelf.

Due to it's very brief format and small print, it's small and light. You can take it on holiday with you.

Because it's a dictionary with definitions rather than just a word-list, you can learn what the words mean, which is a great aid to learning.

It can be used for all word games such as Boggle, Upwords etc. not just Scrabble.

Highly recommended

Not quite up to standards, 08 Aug 2008
After seeing the good reviews above I feel somewhat guilty about writing a less than glowing one. One of the main purposes of a dictionary is to fill in the gaps in vocabulary. However this dictionary has failed me on several occasions. Try to find the word 'discombobulate' and you will fail miserably. This is not the most obscure word in the English language and if I can't find a word I don't know what's the point in the dictionary?

My new best pal!, 31 Jan 2008
This is The Daddy! I compared this with Oxford, Chambers and Penguin and for me it came out a clear winner. Very clear and includes all those obscure words that the others overlook. It's great value at this price and eats crosswords for breakfast. Just don't drop it on your foot!

Perfect for scrabble and word games, 30 Oct 2007
THE definitive dictionary for all sorts of word games, but especially crosswords and scrabble. Every home should have one and every time I pick it up I discover a new word or one I'd forgotten!

Delightful - modern and new words, 20 Jul 2007
This Collins dictionary consists of mainly new words. There are some words that have been known for a very long time, such as 'devilish', but some fantastically new words!

What a delightful BOOK.
5-star read.

A dictionary's a dictionary, 06 Jul 2005
I think a dictionary's a dictionary, but this edition does have lots of new words, and a nice cover. What more do you want?!

10 Year olds love it, 14 Nov 2007
I bought it for our kids as a reference book. They sit and read it! The only thing is, it doesn't have the rude words in I remember looking up up as a child.

Also has handy 'usage' boxes which gives direction on how some words cam be used.

Well worth getting in my opinion.

Portable, handy, detailed., 08 Oct 2007
This is the first dictionary I reach for if I want to find a definition of a word. It's also the first book I reach for if I want information on a famous person, or need to know where a particular place is.

In short, it's a dictionary and encyclopedia in one very handy size.

Plus points:
> it's easy to find any of the 120,00 definitions: the letter markers are visible from the outside.
> includes a thorough mid-section on famous people and places
> plentiful grammar and usage boxes (e.g. between diffuse and defuse).

Oh yes, it's also less than £8. A literal bargain.

A favourable lexicon for the parsimonious consumer, 11 Aug 2007
A compendium of 120,000 definitions advances itself as an uncommonly intimidating treatise but, lo, I garnered the tenacity to venture forth on an arduous quest of nigh incomprehensible magnitude. My pursuits of rhetorical erudition were both prolonged and tortuous. Indeed, I must yield that the whimsy of surrender infrequently manifested itself as a courtesan of nectareous temptation. Fortuitously, my resolve was but consolidated when I observed a distention in the radius of my parlance and the tender allure of acquiescence was hastened asunder. Indeed, I can affirm without recourse to fallacy that the juncture of my undertakings culminated most expeditiously- prior to the desistance of the tertiary synodic month.

In short, this exhaustive scholastic glossary of the English idiom was most appeasing to my propensity for the conglomerative acquisition of wisdom (although my spouse Doreen has experienced sufficient discombobulation as to articulate the apprehension that my prevailing manner of discourse is akin to that of a bovine sphincter).

making sense of africa, 24 Sep 2008
I have always been fascinated by Africa. My parents met there as vso volunteers in the 70s and that was how the author first experienced Africa. My parents talked often about their time there but they had such mixed views - love and hate. I bought this because of review and knew I was travelling to Australia so had time to read it. I have not been disappointed. It is passionately written yet highly informed. Above all it makes sense of something I never quite understood. It will be my parents' Christmas present! I must now go to Africa.

Invaluable, 14 Nov 2008
A copy of this book should be put in the hands of every man, woman, child, cat and dog on the planet. We are being drowned in a sea of rolling news, breaking news, 'keeping you updated', etc etc - and it's all crap. Many of us knew the news has been distorted for years, but as Nick Davies proves the modern media can now only produce hogwash (actually, that's an insult to hogwash). At a time when we need a proper Fourth Estate we get junk. There are faults with the book: it's probably overlong and the author mentions only in passing that PR is full of journalists, most of whom would work for whoever pays them and say what they're paid to. But enough of that. That modern news is hype, hysteria and hopeless is proved beyond doubt in page after page of Davies' breathtaking catalogue of examples.

Potentially important book, but fatally flawed, 11 Sep 2008
The cover of this book is splattered with quotes saying how important this book is, and they're sort of right. Davies looks with a piercing insiders eye at why the news reported to us -- even from "heavyweight" sources -- is even less dependable than even cynics think. The book clearly shows how commercial factors have all but eliminated any checking of stories, so the media are almost completely at the mercy of PR generated by vested interests.

The problem -- and it's a big one -- is that the book risks being tarred with the same brush (because of carelessness, I hope, and not because Davies sources really are poor). Davies repeatedly quotes the figure of only 12% original input from newsrooms, but only once mentions that there's another 8% that's uncertain so the actual figure is somewhere betweeen 12% and 20%. Responsible reporting would say 16% +/- 4%, or just 16%; by choosing the worst extreme of the range Davies is sensationalising the data. Even worse, the figure of 12% comes from a single study, and no reference is given for the study, so readers cannot check the data. What was the methodology? Was the study ever peer reviewed? In fact, no references are given for anything at all; we have to take Davies' word for everything he says. That's the very thing he complains about journalists doing, the very thing that leads to flat-earth journalism, the very problem he is trying to highlight. Sure, some of his sources would want to remain anonymous, but the total lack of any references at all in a book of this type is completely unforgiveable. And does he have a vested interest? Well, he's a journalist, complaining about massive cuts in employment of journalism, massive cuts in journalists' pay, and massive deterioration in journalists' working conditions: it looks like a vested interest to me (and he admits in part to this at the outset).

If we take the message of this book at all seriously then we can't trust this book at all. That's a real pity, because I think it deals with crucially important issues and Davies may well actually be correct in his allegations. It may just have been a foolish decision -- not to reference anything -- that holed this book beneath the waterline. But with that flaw, the book is sunk.

Establishment journalist turns tables and burns bridges, 07 Sep 2008
Nick Davies used to be a professional journalist. Flat Earth News has to stand as one of the most intensive episodes of bridge-burning in recent writing. Davies turned his focus on his own industry and has produced a highly readable account of how, in his own words, he worked in a, "...corrupted profession."

This isn't a fish-shooting exercise in why tabloid journalism isn't to be trusted; after all, surely nobody reads the gutter press expecting to actually learn something about the world. The red-tops are all about sex, celebrity, sport, trivia - a companion to the fool's lantern. Flat Earth News goes hunting for bigger beasts: the so-called quality press. Neither is this book about which is better, left or right-wing journalism. Davies has both targets in his sites.

Flat Earth News starts with an examination of the Millennium Bug story (remember that?): how certain portions of the world were whipped up into a fear that as the year 1999 rolled over into the year 2000, planes would fall out the sky, prison doors would swing open and all sorts of calamities would happen because most computers weren't equipped to recognise that the date "00" was "2000" and not "1900." As we all know now, none of these predictions of apocalypse came to pass. Davies analyses how one very cautious prediction was picked up and manufactured into something that the original story's author and subject wouldn't have recognised.

Davies then goes further and re-investigates other stories, going back to the people who were meant to have given the quotes and finding that either the stories were misquoting the source, the journalists hadn't even spoken directly to the people involved or that the stories were simply recycling Public Relations hand-outs, designed to promote a person, product or policy. This pattern turned out to be consistent across the board, from The Observer newspaper to The Daily Mail.

Nick Davies' book discusses why journalists are content to take PR propaganda, whether corporate or governmental, and pass it off as their own work - they have so much space to fill and such limited time to research and write, that rules of production demand that they simply churn out a steady stream of articles, using 'safe' sources that are 'official' and 'reliable' rather than using dissident sources that are, by dogmatic definition, 'unreliable' and therefore more time consuming to research.

Other parts of the book discuss media hypocrisy: journalists mouthing off about "law and order" but paying corrupt police and civil servants to illegally source information. Another section provides a case study as to how a left-of-center newspaper (The Observer) became a willing conduit for an illegal pro-war message. Another piece looks at how The Times Insight team, one of Fleet Street's finest, were reduced to inconsequential fluff. Other case studies and content analysis further substantiate Nick Davies contention that the mainstream print media in the U.K. has simply lost its' credibility, despite the best efforts of a handful of dedicated journalists, swimming against the tide.

At best, most journalists are neutral and not objective: two people go off to a field and then return, one claims that they cut all the grass and the other claims that they didn't touch a single blade. Clearly, they both can't be telling the truth, one of them has to be lying. If the journalist reports both positions with equal weight, this is neutrality, not objectivity. It has nothing whatsoever to do with truth but merely the appearance of impartiality. And this - neutrality - is the best we can hope for, a few honourable exceptions aside.

This book should be required reading not only for practicing and trainee journalists but for anybody who still consumes the secular priesthood that is the so-called 'quality press.' Whether your own personal political bias tilts to the right or the left, this book should provide the evidence that the news factory is not only selling consumers to advertisers but that it is selling Public Relations propaganda under the guise of independent research.

., 30 Jul 2008
I'd always had a feeling that I was being misled by the mainstream media, but never really knew how it came about. This book went a long way to answering that question, and I now understand how the media is manipulated by a variety of sources so that what gets presented is very rarely the news as it happened.

My only criticism of the book is its coverage of the propaganda war in Iraq. It's undoubtedly all true, and relevant to the book, but I found that the middle of the book onwards was almost totally devoted to it, and it just turned me off a bit. It felt at times like the real message of the book was a criticism of Blair and Bush and that the stuff about the press was merely to illustrate that point, rather than the other way round.

The rise and rise of 'churnalism', 08 Jul 2008
Today newspapers are run purely for profit. This means that numbers of reporters are being cut. This means that they can't get out into the world and build contacts that will help them unearth stories. This means that, by and large, they have time to just sit at a desk and recycle (sometimes just plain re-use) stories from:
1. News agencies, who feel it's not their job to interpret anything, merely report it, so no fact checking. This stuff goes straight into papers and broadcast media without being checked.
2. PR. PR agencies who work for organisations send out press releases, which by definition will not be fair or balanced. And that goes straight into the news too. Interestingly, there's also the issue of 'Astroturf' groups: supposedly 'grass-roots' movements and organisations that produce 'independent' reports, except they're no such thing; they're just a front for big business to put out press releases from an apparently independent source. And it's not just global warming or the millennium bug where we're being misled; there are apparently Astroturf organisations sending us reports, towing the government line, from Iraq! SO next time you hear about the publication of a report from some think tank, ask yourself who's paying for that report?
3. Each other. If one paper has picked up on a story, rather than (a) check it or (b) get left behind, they recycle the same stuff. It seems that each paper goes through every other paper checking for stories.

Anyone who reads a paper or listens to the news in any way shape or form should read this book.

ESSENTIAL for the regular player, 05 Nov 2008
Most things have been covered in other reviews here, but I ought to add that if like me, your Scrabble games are punctuated with 'debates' (ok - arguments) about the validity of words, this will change your Scrabble-playing life!

There are older editions available too, under the name OSW (Official Scrabble Words), which can sometimes be a cheaper option, but with this book selling at a reduced price like it is now, seize the moment and buy one - you won't regret it!

Just as described, 14 Apr 2008
This book seems to be exactly as described, and is perfect for UK Scrabble words. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive dictionary in so far as only words upto nine letters are included, and the descriptions are short. However it is great for Scrabble, and crucially includes all variations of a word such as plural, different tense etc. Fully worth the money!

has all those unusual words you only use in Scrabble, 21 Jan 2008
For years I would judge a dictionary on it's quality by whether it had the words qat, zex, and jow in it, which of course none of them do, unless you pay an arm and a leg and get a dictionary that weighs an absolute tonne! Then I discovered this handy little volume which has all those strange scrabble words, a brief description (usually one word description), and my search was over. This dictionary is marvelous. Definately a must for anyone wanting to improve their game, or to silence those challenges over dubious looking words.

Recommended for even casual players of all word games, 08 Nov 2007
This book is brilliant for all families that enjoy casual word games.

It is comprehensive and authoritative, so it contains all the words that should be allowed in a word game, but aren't in grandma's 1963 edition of the Concise Oxford dictionary that you keep next to Delia on the bookshelf.

Due to it's very brief format and small print, it's small and light. You can take it on holiday with you.

Because it's a dictionary with definitions rather than just a word-list, you can learn what the words mean, which is a great aid to learning.

It can be used for all word games such as Boggle, Upwords etc. not just Scrabble.

Highly recommended

Not quite up to standards, 08 Aug 2008
After seeing the good reviews above I feel somewhat guilty about writing a less than glowing one. One of the main purposes of a dictionary is to fill in the gaps in vocabulary. However this dictionary has failed me on several occasions. Try to find the word 'discombobulate' and you will fail miserably. This is not the most obscure word in the English language and if I can't find a word I don't know what's the point in the dictionary?

My new best pal!, 31 Jan 2008
This is The Daddy! I compared this with Oxford, Chambers and Penguin and for me it came out a clear winner. Very clear and includes all those obscure words that the others overlook. It's great value at this price and eats crosswords for breakfast. Just don't drop it on your foot!

Perfect for scrabble and word games, 30 Oct 2007
THE definitive dictionary for all sorts of word games, but especially crosswords and scrabble. Every home should have one and every time I pick it up I discover a new word or one I'd forgotten!

Delightful - modern and new words, 20 Jul 2007
This Collins dictionary consists of mainly new words. There are some words that have been known for a very long time, such as 'devilish', but some fantastically new words!

What a delightful BOOK.
5-star read.

A dictionary's a dictionary, 06 Jul 2005
I think a dictionary's a dictionary, but this edition does have lots of new words, and a nice cover. What more do you want?!

10 Year olds love it, 14 Nov 2007
I bought it for our kids as a reference book. They sit and read it! The only thing is, it doesn't have the rude words in I remember looking up up as a child.

Also has handy 'usage' boxes which gives direction on how some words cam be used.

Well worth getting in my opinion.

Portable, handy, detailed., 08 Oct 2007
This is the first dictionary I reach for if I want to find a definition of a word. It's also the first book I reach for if I want information on a famous person, or need to know where a particular place is.

In short, it's a dictionary and encyclopedia in one very handy size.

Plus points:
> it's easy to find any of the 120,00 definitions: the letter markers are visible from the outside.
> includes a thorough mid-section on famous people and places
> plentiful grammar and usage boxes (e.g. between diffuse and defuse).

Oh yes, it's also less than £8. A literal bargain.

A favourable lexicon for the parsimonious consumer, 11 Aug 2007
A compendium of 120,000 definitions advances itself as an uncommonly intimidating treatise but, lo, I garnered the tenacity to venture forth on an arduous quest of nigh incomprehensible magnitude. My pursuits of rhetorical erudition were both prolonged and tortuous. Indeed, I must yield that the whimsy of surrender infrequently manifested itself as a courtesan of nectareous temptation. Fortuitously, my resolve was but consolidated when I observed a distention in the radius of my parlance and the tender allure of acquiescence was hastened asunder. Indeed, I can affirm without recourse to fallacy that the juncture of my undertakings culminated most expeditiously- prior to the desistance of the tertiary synodic month.

In short, this exhaustive scholastic glossary of the English idiom was most appeasing to my propensity for the conglomerative acquisition of wisdom (although my spouse Doreen has experienced sufficient discombobulation as to articulate the apprehension that my prevailing manner of discourse is akin to that of a bovine sphincter).

making sense of africa, 24 Sep 2008
I have always been fascinated by Africa. My parents met there as vso volunteers in the 70s and that was how the author first experienced Africa. My parents talked often about their time there but they had such mixed views - love and hate. I bought this because of review and knew I was travelling to Australia so had time to read it. I have not been disappointed. It is passionately written yet highly informed. Above all it makes sense of something I never quite understood. It will be my parents' Christmas present! I must now go to Africa.

Invaluable, 14 Nov 2008
A copy of this book should be put in the hands of every man, woman, child, cat and dog on the planet. We are being drowned in a sea of rolling news, breaking news, 'keeping you updated', etc etc - and it's all crap. Many of us knew the news has been distorted for years, but as Nick Davies proves the modern media can now only produce hogwash (actually, that's an insult to hogwash). At a time when we need a proper Fourth Estate we get junk. There are faults with the book: it's probably overlong and the author mentions only in passing that PR is full of journalists, most of whom would work for whoever pays them and say what they're paid to. But enough of that. That modern news is hype, hysteria and hopeless is proved beyond doubt in page after page of Davies' breathtaking catalogue of examples.

Potentially important book, but fatally flawed, 11 Sep 2008
The cover of this book is splattered with quotes saying how important this book is, and they're sort of right. Davies looks with a piercing insiders eye at why the news reported to us -- even from "heavyweight" sources -- is even less dependable than even cynics think. The book clearly shows how commercial factors have all but eliminated any checking of stories, so the media are almost completely at the mercy of PR generated by vested interests.

The problem -- and it's a big one -- is that the book risks being tarred with the same brush (because of carelessness, I hope, and not because Davies sources really are poor). Davies repeatedly quotes the figure of only 12% original input from newsrooms, but only once mentions that there's another 8% that's uncertain so the actual figure is somewhere betweeen 12% and 20%. Responsible reporting would say 16% +/- 4%, or just 16%; by choosing the worst extreme of the range Davies is sensationalising the data. Even worse, the figure of 12% comes from a single study, and no reference is given for the study, so readers cannot check the data. What was the methodology? Was the study ever peer reviewed? In fact, no references are given for anything at all; we have to take Davies' word for everything he says. That's the very thing he complains about journalists doing, the very thing that leads to flat-earth journalism, the very problem he is trying to highlight. Sure, some of his sources would want to remain anonymous, but the total lack of any references at all in a book of this type is completely unforgiveable. And does he have a vested interest? Well, he's a journalist, complaining about massive cuts in employment of journalism, massive cuts in journalists' pay, and massive deterioration in journalists' working conditions: it looks like a vested interest to me (and he admits in part to this at the outset).

If we take the message of this book at all seriously then we can't trust this book at all. That's a real pity, because I think it deals with crucially important issues and Davies may well actually be correct in his allegations. It may just have been a foolish decision -- not to reference anything -- that holed this book beneath the waterline. But with that flaw, the book is sunk.

Establishment journalist turns tables and burns bridges, 07 Sep 2008
Nick Davies used to be a professional journalist. Flat Earth News has to stand as one of the most intensive episodes of bridge-burning in recent writing. Davies turned his focus on his own industry and has produced a highly readable account of how, in his own words, he worked in a, "...corrupted profession."

This isn't a fish-shooting exercise in why tabloid journalism isn't to be trusted; after all, surely nobody reads the gutter press expecting to actually learn something about the world. The red-tops are all about sex, celebrity, sport, trivia - a companion to the fool's lantern. Flat Earth News goes hunting for bigger beasts: the so-called quality press. Neither is this book about which is better, left or right-wing journalism. Davies has both targets in his sites.

Flat Earth News starts with an examination of the Millennium Bug story (remember that?): how certain portions of the world were whipped up into a fear that as the year 1999 rolled over into the year 2000, planes would fall out the sky, prison doors would swing open and all sorts of calamities would happen because most computers weren't equipped to recognise that the date "00" was "2000" and not "1900." As we all know now, none of these predictions of apocalypse came to pass. Davies analyses how one very cautious prediction was picked up and manufactured into something that the original story's author and subject wouldn't have recognised.

Davies then goes further and re-investigates other stories, going back to the people who were meant to have given the quotes and finding that either the stories were misquoting the source, the journalists hadn't even spoken directly to the people involved or that the stories were simply recycling Public Relations hand-outs, designed to promote a person, product or policy. This pattern turned out to be consistent across the board, from The Observer newspaper to The Daily Mail.

Nick Davies' book discusses why journalists are content to take PR propaganda, whether corporate or governmental, and pass it off as their own work - they have so much space to fill and such limited time to research and write, that rules of production demand that they simply churn out a steady stream of articles, using 'safe' sources that are 'official' and 'reliable' rather than using dissident sources that are, by dogmatic definition, 'unreliable' and therefore more time consuming to research.

Other parts of the book discuss media hypocrisy: journalists mouthing off about "law and order" but paying corrupt police and civil servants to illegally source information. Another section provides a case study as to how a left-of-center newspaper (The Observer) became a willing conduit for an illegal pro-war message. Another piece looks at how The Times Insight team, one of Fleet Street's finest, were reduced to inconsequential fluff. Other case studies and content analysis further substantiate Nick Davies contention that the mainstream print media in the U.K. has simply lost its' credibility, despite the best efforts of a handful of dedicated journalists, swimming against the tide.

At best, most journalists are neutral and not objective: two people go off to a field and then return, one claims that they cut all the grass and the other claims that they didn't touch a single blade. Clearly, they both can't be telling the truth, one of them has to be lying. If the journalist reports both positions with equal weight, this is neutrality, not objectivity. It has nothing whatsoever to do with truth but merely the appearance of impartiality. And this - neutrality - is the best we can hope for, a few honourable exceptions aside.

This book should be required reading not only for practicing and trainee journalists but for anybody who still consumes the secular priesthood that is the so-called 'quality press.' Whether your own personal political bias tilts to the right or the left, this book should provide the evidence that the news factory is not only selling consumers to advertisers but that it is selling Public Relations propaganda under the guise of independent research.

., 30 Jul 2008
I'd always had a feeling that I was being misled by the mainstream media, but never really knew how it came about. This book went a long way to answering that question, and I now understand how the media is manipulated by a variety of sources so that what gets presented is very rarely the news as it happened.

My only criticism of the book is its coverage of the propaganda war in Iraq. It's undoubtedly all true, and relevant to the book, but I found that the middle of the book onwards was almost totally devoted to it, and it just turned me off a bit. It felt at times like the real message of the book was a criticism of Blair and Bush and that the stuff about the press was merely to illustrate that point, rather than the other way round.

The rise and rise of 'churnalism', 08 Jul 2008
Today newspapers are run purely for profit. This means that numbers of reporters are being cut. This means that they can't get out into the world and build contacts that will help them unearth stories. This means that, by and large, they have time to just sit at a desk and recycle (sometimes just plain re-use) stories from:
1. News agencies, who feel it's not their job to interpret anything, merely report it, so no fact checking. This stuff goes straight into papers and broadcast media without being checked.
2. PR. PR agencies who work for organisations send out press releases, which by definition will not be fair or balanced. And that goes straight into the news too. Interestingly, there's also the issue of 'Astroturf' groups: supposedly 'grass-roots' movements and organisations that produce 'independent' reports, except they're no such thing; they're just a front for big business to put out press releases from an apparently independent source. And it's not just global warming or the millennium bug where we're being misled; there are apparently Astroturf organisations sending us reports, towing the government line, from Iraq! SO next time you hear about the publication of a report from some think tank, ask yourself who's paying for that report?
3. Each other. If one paper has picked up on a story, rather than (a) check it or (b) get left behind, they recycle the same stuff. It seems that each paper goes through every other paper checking for stories.

Anyone who reads a paper or listens to the news in any way shape or form should read this book.

Still the best, 30 Oct 2008
As and when you need to cheat at crosswords, Anne Bradford's "string and sealing wax" book (produced without a computer) still stands up very well against the ones produced mainly with the help of computers (most if not all of the rest). On a crossword discussion forum, Bradford's was recently compared with Chambers Crossword Dictionary by looking up the theme-words in the epic Listener 4000 puzzle. Bradford's had 19 of the 24 theme-words (8 each of battles, composers and coins), Chambers had just 13.

Bradford's Crossword Lists, 09 Sep 2007
I was very disappointed with this book. The very first thing I wanted to look up was "4-letter reddish colours" but there wasn't a heading of "colours" so I tried "shades" but still with no luck. I then had to scour the entire index and eventually found it in the R's under Shades of red.

Likewise, Boys' Names are under F ?? Yes, they're under "First Names" !!

I now have an index full of my scribbles on where to find everything!!

the best thing in my life, 17 May 2007
i owned an old copy of this itle picked up at a boot sale, when i saw this advertised on amazon i could not wait to receive my copy, it fulfilled all my expectations. for any crucivebalist this is the holy grail, come on araucaria, paul, et al we can solve even the most difficult now. my only wish is that we could have an e-book please!!

Bradford's crossword solver dictionary gem edition, 11 Mar 2005
I bought this not realising this was the gem version and have subsequently bought the full size version.

The full size version costs more but contains loads more definitions and word lists and is in my opinion much better value. The only reason I would buy this again, would be to have as a portable maybe.

Wouldn't be without it, 23 Oct 2003
Bradfords is my Bible, and I seem to tear apart every edition that comes out. It's an absolute godsend for helping me with the really difficult general knowledge clues. My only qualification is that the pages become loose very easily, so I have to resort to sellotape. A stronger binding on the spine would be appreciated!!!

ESSENTIAL for the regular player, 05 Nov 2008
Most things have been covered in other reviews here, but I ought to add that if like me, your Scrabble games are punctuated with 'debates' (ok - arguments) about the validity of words, this will change your Scrabble-playing life!

There are older editions available too, under the name OSW (Official Scrabble Words), which can sometimes be a cheaper option, but with this book selling at a reduced price like it is now, seize the moment and buy one - you won't regret it!

Just as described, 14 Apr 2008
This book seems to be exactly as described, and is perfect for UK Scrabble words. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive dictionary in so far as only words upto nine letters are included, and the descriptions are short. However it is great for Scrabble, and crucially includes all variations of a word such as plural, different tense etc. Fully worth the money!

has all those unusual words you only use in Scrabble, 21 Jan 2008
For years I would judge a dictionary on it's quality by whether it had the words qat, zex, and jow in it, which of course none of them do, unless you pay an arm and a leg and get a dictionary that weighs an absolute tonne! Then I discovered this handy little volume which has all those strange scrabble words, a brief description (usually one word description), and my search was over. This dictionary is marvelous. Definately a must for anyone wanting to improve their game, or to silence those challenges over dubious looking words.

Recommended for even casual players of all word games, 08 Nov 2007
This book is brilliant for all families that enjoy casual word games.

It is comprehensive and authoritative, so it contains all the words that should be allowed in a word game, but aren't in grandma's 1963 edition of the Concise Oxford dictionary that you keep next to Delia on the bookshelf.

Due to it's very brief format and small print, it's small and light. You can take it on holiday with you.

Because it's a dictionary with definitions rather than just a word-list, you can learn what the words mean, which is a great aid to learning.

It can be used for all word games such as Boggle, Upwords etc. not just Scrabble.

Highly recommended

Not quite up to standards, 08 Aug 2008
After seeing the good reviews above I feel somewhat guilty about writing a less than glowing one. One of the main purposes of a dictionary is to fill in the gaps in vocabulary. However this dictionary has failed me on several occasions. Try to find the word 'discombobulate' and you will fail miserably. This is not the most obscure word in the English language and if I can't find a word I don't know what's the point in the dictionary?

My new best pal!, 31 Jan 2008
This is The Daddy! I compared this with Oxford, Chambers and Penguin and for me it came out a clear winner. Very clear and includes all those obscure words that the others overlook. It's great value at this price and eats crosswords for breakfast. Just don't drop it on your foot!

Perfect for scrabble and word games, 30 Oct 2007
THE definitive dictionary for all sorts of word games, but especially crosswords and scrabble. Every home should have one and every time I pick it up I discover a new word or one I'd forgotten!

Delightful - modern and new words, 20 Jul 2007
This Collins dictionary consists of mainly new words. There are some words that have been known for a very long time, such as 'devilish', but some fantastically new words!

What a delightful BOOK.
5-star read.

A dictionary's a dictionary, 06 Jul 2005
I think a dictionary's a dictionary, but this edition does have lots of new words, and a nice cover. What more do you want?!

10 Year olds love it, 14 Nov 2007
I bought it for our kids as a reference book. They sit and read it! The only thing is, it doesn't have the rude words in I remember looking up up as a child.

Also has handy 'usage' boxes which gives direction on how some words cam be used.

Well worth getting in my opinion.

Portable, handy, detailed., 08 Oct 2007
This is the first dictionary I reach for if I want to find a definition of a word. It's also the first book I reach for if I want information on a famous person, or need to know where a particular place is.

In short, it's a dictionary and encyclopedia in one very handy size.

Plus points:
> it's easy to find any of the 120,00 definitions: the letter markers are visible from the outside.
> includes a thorough mid-section on famous people and places
> plentiful grammar and usage boxes (e.g. between diffuse and defuse).

Oh yes, it's also less than £8. A literal bargain.

A favourable lexicon for the parsimonious consumer, 11 Aug 2007
A compendium of 120,000 definitions advances itself as an uncommonly intimidating treatise but, lo, I garnered the tenacity to venture forth on an arduous quest of nigh incomprehensible magnitude. My pursuits of rhetorical erudition were both prolonged and tortuous. Indeed, I must yield that the whimsy of surrender infrequently manifested itself as a courtesan of nectareous temptation. Fortuitously, my resolve was but consolidated when I observed a distention in the radius of my parlance and the tender allure of acquiescence was hastened asunder. Indeed, I can affirm without recourse to fallacy that the juncture of my undertakings culminated most expeditiously- prior to the desistance of the tertiary synodic month.

In short, this exhaustive scholastic glossary of the English idiom was most appeasing to my propensity for the conglomerative acquisition of wisdom (although my spouse Doreen has experienced sufficient discombobulation as to articulate the apprehension that my prevailing manner of discourse is akin to that of a bovine sphincter).

making sense of africa, 24 Sep 2008
I have always been fascinated by Africa. My parents met there as vso volunteers in the 70s and that was how the author first experienced Africa. My parents talked often about their time there but they had such mixed views - love and hate. I bought this because of review and knew I was travelling to Australia so had time to read it. I have not been disappointed. It is passionately written yet highly informed. Above all it makes sense of something I never quite understood. It will be my parents' Christmas present! I must now go to Africa.

Invaluable, 14 Nov 2008
A copy of this book should be put in the hands of every man, woman, child, cat and dog on the planet. We are being drowned in a sea of rolling news, breaking news, 'keeping you updated', etc etc - and it's all crap. Many of us knew the news has been distorted for years, but as Nick Davies proves the modern media can now only produce hogwash (actually, that's an insult to hogwash). At a time when we need a proper Fourth Estate we get junk. There are faults with the book: it's probably overlong and the author mentions only in passing that PR is full of journalists, most of whom would work for whoever pays them and say what they're paid to. But enough of that. That modern news is hype, hysteria and hopeless is proved beyond doubt in page after page of Davies' breathtaking catalogue of examples.

Potentially important book, but fatally flawed, 11 Sep 2008
The cover of this book is splattered with quotes saying how important this book is, and they're sort of right. Davies looks with a piercing insiders eye at why the news reported to us -- even from "heavyweight" sources -- is even less dependable than even cynics think. The book clearly shows how commercial factors have all but eliminated any checking of stories, so the media are almost completely at the mercy of PR generated by vested interests.

The problem -- and it's a big one -- is that the book risks being tarred with the same brush (because of carelessness, I hope, and not because Davies sources really are poor). Davies repeatedly quotes the figure of only 12% original input from newsrooms, but only once mentions that there's another 8% that's uncertain so the actual figure is somewhere betweeen 12% and 20%. Responsible reporting would say 16% +/- 4%, or just 16%; by choosing the worst extreme of the range Davies is sensationalising the data. Even worse, the figure of 12% comes from a single study, and no reference is given for the study, so readers cannot check the data. What was the methodology? Was the study ever peer reviewed? In fact, no references are given for anything at all; we have to take Davies' word for everything he says. That's the very thing he complains about journalists doing, the very thing that leads to flat-earth journalism, the very problem he is trying to highlight. Sure, some of his sources would want to remain anonymous, but the total lack of any references at all in a book of this type is completely unforgiveable. And does he have a vested interest? Well, he's a journalist, complaining about massive cuts in employment of journalism, massive cuts in journalists' pay, and massive deterioration in journalists' working conditions: it looks like a vested interest to me (and he admits in part to this at the outset).

If we take the message of this book at all seriously then we can't trust this book at all. That's a real pity, because I think it deals with crucially important issues and Davies may well actually be correct in his allegations. It may just have been a foolish decision -- not to reference anything -- that holed this book beneath the waterline. But with that flaw, the book is sunk.

Establishment journalist turns tables and burns bridges, 07 Sep 2008
Nick Davies used to be a professional journalist. Flat Earth News has to stand as one of the most intensive episodes of bridge-burning in recent writing. Davies turned his focus on his own industry and has produced a highly readable account of how, in his own words, he worked in a, "...corrupted profession."

This isn't a fish-shooting exercise in why tabloid journalism isn't to be trusted; after all, surely nobody reads the gutter press expecting to actually learn something about the world. The red-tops are all about sex, celebrity, sport, trivia - a companion to the fool's lantern. Flat Earth News goes hunting for bigger beasts: the so-called quality press. Neither is this book about which is better, left or right-wing journalism. Davies has both targets in his sites.

Flat Earth News starts with an examination of the Millennium Bug story (remember that?): how certain portions of the world were whipped up into a fear that as the year 1999 rolled over into the year 2000, planes would fall out the sky, prison doors would swing open and all sorts of calamities would happen because most computers weren't equipped to recognise that the date "00" was "2000" and not "1900." As we all know now, none of these predictions of apocalypse came to pass. Davies analyses how one very cautious prediction was picked up and manufactured into something that the original story's author and subject wouldn't have recognised.

Davies then goes further and re-investigates other stories, going back to the people who were meant to have given the quotes and finding that either the stories were misquoting the source, the journalists hadn't even spoken directly to the people involved or that the stories were simply recycling Public Relations hand-outs, designed to promote a person, product or policy. This pattern turned out to be consistent across the board, from The Observer newspaper to The Daily Mail.

Nick Davies' book discusses why journalists are content to take PR propaganda, whether corporate or governmental, and pass it off as their own work - they have so much space to fill and such limited time to research and write, that rules of production demand that they simply churn out a steady stream of articles, using 'safe' sources that are 'official' and 'reliable' rather than using dissident sources that are, by dogmatic definition, 'unreliable' and therefore more time consuming to research.

Other parts of the book discuss media hypocrisy: journalists mouthing off about "law and order" but paying corrupt police and civil servants to illegally source information. Another section provides a case study as to how a left-of-center newspaper (The Observer) became a willing conduit for an illegal pro-war message. Another piece looks at how The Times Insight team, one of Fleet Street's finest, were reduced to inconsequential fluff. Other case studies and content analysis further substantiate Nick Davies contention that the mainstream print media in the U.K. has simply lost its' credibility, despite the best efforts of a handful of dedicated journalists, swimming against the tide.

At best, most journalists are neutral and not objective: two people go off to a field and then return, one claims that they cut all the grass and the other claims that they didn't touch a single blade. Clearly, they both can't be telling the truth, one of them has to be lying. If the journalist reports both positions with equal weight, this is neutrality, not objectivity. It has nothing whatsoever to do with truth but merely the appearance of impartiality. And this - neutrality - is the best we can hope for, a few honourable exceptions aside.

This book should be required reading not only for practicing and trainee journalists but for anybody who still consumes the secular priesthood that is the so-called 'quality press.' Whether your own personal political bias tilts to the right or the left, this book should provide the evidence that the news factory is not only selling consumers to advertisers but that it is selling Public Relations propaganda under the guise of independent research.

., 30 Jul 2008
I'd always had a feeling that I was being misled by the mainstream media, but never really knew how it came about. This book went a long way to answering that question, and I now understand how the media is manipulated by a variety of sources so that what gets presented is very rarely the news as it happened.

My only criticism of the book is its coverage of the propaganda war in Iraq. It's undoubtedly all true, and relevant to the book, but I found that the middle of the book onwards was almost totally devoted to it, and it just turned me off a bit. It felt at times like the real message of the book was a criticism of Blair and Bush and that the stuff about the press was merely to illustrate that point, rather than the other way round.

The rise and rise of 'churnalism', 08 Jul 2008
Today newspapers are run purely for profit. This means that numbers of reporters are being cut. This means that they can't get out into the world and build contacts that will help them unearth stories. This means that, by and large, they have time to just sit at a desk and recycle (sometimes just plain re-use) stories from:
1. News agencies, who feel it's not their job to interpret anything, merely report it, so no fact checking. This stuff goes straight into papers and broadcast media without being checked.
2. PR. PR agencies who work for organisations send out press releases, which by definition will not be fair or balanced. And that goes straight into the news too. Interestingly, there's also the issue of 'Astroturf' groups: supposedly 'grass-roots' movements and organisations that produce 'independent' reports, except they're no such thing; they're just a front for big business to put out press releases from an apparently independent source. And it's not just global warming or the millennium bug where we're being misled; there are apparently Astroturf organisations sending us reports, towing the government line, from Iraq! SO next time you hear about the publication of a report from some think tank, ask yourself who's paying for that report?
3. Each other. If one paper has picked up on a story, rather than (a) check it or (b) get left behind, they recycle the same stuff. It seems that each paper goes through every other paper checking for stories.

Anyone who reads a paper or listens to the news in any way shape or form should read this book.

Still the best, 30 Oct 2008
As and when you need to cheat at crosswords, Anne Bradford's "string and sealing wax" book (produced without a computer) still stands up very well against the ones produced mainly with the help of computers (most if not all of the rest). On a crossword discussion forum, Bradford's was recently compared with Chambers Crossword Dictionary by looking up the theme-words in the epic Listener 4000 puzzle. Bradford's had 19 of the 24 theme-words (8 each of battles, composers and coins), Chambers had just 13.

Bradford's Crossword Lists, 09 Sep 2007
I was very disappointed with this book. The very first thing I wanted to look up was "4-letter reddish colours" but there wasn't a heading of "colours" so I tried "shades" but still with no luck. I then had to scour the entire index and eventually found it in the R's under Shades of red.

Likewise, Boys' Names are under F ?? Yes, they're under "First Names" !!

I now have an index full of my scribbles on where to find everything!!

the best thing in my life, 17 May 2007
i owned an old copy of this itle picked up at a boot sale, when i saw this advertised on amazon i could not wait to receive my copy, it fulfilled all my expectations. for any crucivebalist this is the holy grail, come on araucaria, paul, et al we can solve even the most difficult now. my only wish is that we could have an e-book please!!

Bradford's crossword solver dictionary gem edition, 11 Mar 2005
I bought this not realising this was the gem version and have subsequently bought the full size version.

The full size version costs more but contains loads more definitions and word lists and is in my opinion much better value. The only reason I would buy this again, would be to have as a portable maybe.

Wouldn't be without it, 23 Oct 2003
Bradfords is my Bible, and I seem to tear apart every edition that comes out. It's an absolute godsend for helping me with the really difficult general knowledge clues. My only qualification is that the pages become loose very easily, so I have to resort to sellotape. A stronger binding on the spine would be appreciated!!!

The only practical journalism book you really need, 04 Jun 2008
As a working journalist, this is the only book I (and every colleague I've ever worked with on any newsdesk) reach for time and time again. Not only is it bang up to date, it explains all aspects of reporting law clearly and succinctly.
Unsure of what libel is? How to defend against it? Are you in contempt of court? Breaching the Official Secrets Act? Taking photographs of children? Invading somebody's privacy? McNae's knows. And it's written in a way to tell you quickly.
It's known as The Bible in the regional newsrooms I've worked in all my life - and it's easy to see why when you read it. I can't recommend this highly enough: EVERY reporter should have their own copy.

19th edition, and you can see why, 15 Feb 2008
This is the 19th edition of McNae's, and it doesn't take long to see why. It's updated in response to changes in legislation, and if you rely on having an accurate understanding of the law for journalism, it will almost certainly pay to stay up to date.

This is a set book for journalists doing NCTJs, and, from our point of view, an essential reference in our PR department -- alongside the Press Complaints Commission code poster up on the wall.

Journalism and the law are two things on which many people have opinions. There are lots of people who will quite happily say in a meeting "it's against the law to...", "newspapers are required by law to...", "they won't be allowed to print...". Unfortunately, a lot of this 'knowledge' is second or third hand, and much of it dates back to legislation or cases that have now been superseded. A lot of the rest of it is gleaned from conversations in pubs, and articles in newspapers. In other words, of very little value.

This book is the antidote: updated from the most recent changes and the most recent cases, and adopting exactly the right tone when it comes to describing things which are subject to being tested in the courts. And it's an awful lot cheaper than ringing up a lawyer.

Strongly recommended for anyone who actually needs to know.

ESSENTIAL for the regular player, 05 Nov 2008
Most things have been covered in other reviews here, but I ought to add that if like me, your Scrabble games are punctuated with 'debates' (ok - arguments) about the validity of words, this will change your Scrabble-playing life!

There are older editions available too, under the name OSW (Official Scrabble Words), which can sometimes be a cheaper option, but with this book selling at a reduced price like it is now, seize the moment and buy one - you won't regret it!

Just as described, 14 Apr 2008
This book seems to be exactly as described, and is perfect for UK Scrabble words. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive dictionary in so far as only words upto nine letters are included, and the descriptions are short. However it is great for Scrabble, and crucially includes all variations of a word such as plural, different tense etc. Fully worth the money!

has all those unusual words you only use in Scrabble, 21 Jan 2008
For years I would judge a dictionary on it's quality by whether it had the words qat, zex, and jow in it, which of course none of them do, unless you pay an arm and a leg and get a dictionary that weighs an absolute tonne! Then I discovered this handy little volume which has all those strange scrabble words, a brief description (usually one word description), and my search was over. This dictionary is marvelous. Definately a must for anyone wanting to improve their game, or to silence those challenges over dubious looking words.

Recommended for even casual players of all word games, 08 Nov 2007
This book is brilliant for all families that enjoy casual word games.

It is comprehensive and authoritative, so it contains all the words that should be allowed in a word game, but aren't in grandma's 1963 edition of the Concise Oxford dictionary that you keep next to Delia on the bookshelf.

Due to it's very brief format and small print, it's small and light. You can take it on holiday with you.

Because it's a dictionary with definitions rather than just a word-list, you can learn what the words mean, which is a great aid to learning.

It can be used for all word games such as Boggle, Upwords etc. not just Scrabble.

Highly recommended

Not quite up to standards, 08 Aug 2008
After seeing the good reviews above I feel somewhat guilty about writing a less than glowing one. One of the main purposes of a dictionary is to fill in the gaps in vocabulary. However this dictionary has failed me on several occasions. Try to find the word 'discombobulate' and you will fail miserably. This is not the most obscure word in the English language and if I can't find a word I don't know what's the point in the dictionary?

My new best pal!, 31 Jan 2008
This is The Daddy! I compared this with Oxford, Chambers and Penguin and for me it came out a clear winner. Very clear and includes all those obscure words that the others overlook. It's great value at this price and eats crosswords for breakfast. Just don't drop it on your foot!

Perfect for scrabble and word games, 30 Oct 2007
THE definitive dictionary for all sorts of word games, but especially crosswords and scrabble. Every home should have one and every time I pick it up I discover a new word or one I'd forgotten!

Delightful - modern and new words, 20 Jul 2007
This Collins dictionary consists of mainly new words. There are some words that have been known for a very long time, such as 'devilish', but some fantastically new words!

What a delightful BOOK.
5-star read.

A dictionary's a dictionary, 06 Jul 2005
I think a dictionary's a dictionary, but this edition does have lots of new words, and a nice cover. What more do you want?!

10 Year olds love it, 14 Nov 2007
I bought it for our kids as a reference book. They sit and read it! The only thing is, it doesn't have the rude words in I remember looking up up as a child.

Also has handy 'usage' boxes which gives direction on how some words cam be used.

Well worth getting in my opinion.

Portable, handy, detailed., 08 Oct 2007
This is the first dictionary I reach for if I want to find a definition of a word. It's also the first book I reach for if I want information on a famous person, or need to know where a particular place is.

In short, it's a dictionary and encyclopedia in one very handy size.

Plus points:
> it's easy to find any of the 120,00 definitions: the letter markers are visible from the outside.
> includes a thorough mid-section on famous people and places
> plentiful grammar and usage boxes (e.g. between diffuse and defuse).

Oh yes, it's also less than £8. A literal bargain.

A favourable lexicon for the parsimonious consumer, 11 Aug 2007
A compendium of 120,000 definitions advances itself as an uncommonly intimidating treatise but, lo, I garnered the tenacity to venture forth on an arduous quest of nigh incomprehensible magnitude. My pursuits of rhetorical erudition were both prolonged and tortuous. Indeed, I must yield that the whimsy of surrender infrequently manifested itself as a courtesan of nectareous temptation. Fortuitously, my resolve was but consolidated when I observed a distention in the radius of my parlance and the tender allure of acquiescence was hastened asunder. Indeed, I can affirm without recourse to fallacy that the juncture of my undertakings culminated most expeditiously- prior to the desistance of the tertiary synodic month.

In short, this exhaustive scholastic glossary of the English idiom was most appeasing to my propensity for the conglomerative acquisition of wisdom (although my spouse Doreen has experienced sufficient discombobulation as to articulate the apprehension that my prevailing manner of discourse is akin to that of a bovine sphincter).

making sense of africa, 24 Sep 2008
I have always been fascinated by Africa. My parents met there as vso volunteers in the 70s and that was how the author first experienced Africa. My parents talked often about their time there but they had such mixed views - love and hate. I bought this because of review and knew I was travelling to Australia so had time to read it. I have not been disappointed. It is passionately written yet highly informed. Above all it makes sense of something I never quite understood. It will be my parents' Christmas present! I must now go to Africa.

Invaluable, 14 Nov 2008
A copy of this book should be put in the hands of every man, woman, child, cat and dog on the planet. We are being drowned in a sea of rolling news, breaking news, 'keeping you updated', etc etc - and it's all crap. Many of us knew the news has been distorted for years, but as Nick Davies proves the modern media can now only produce hogwash (actually, that's an insult to hogwash). At a time when we need a proper Fourth Estate we get junk. There are faults with the book: it's probably overlong and the author mentions only in passing that PR is full of journalists, most of whom would work for whoever pays them and say what they're paid to. But enough of that. That modern news is hype, hysteria and hopeless is proved beyond doubt in page after page of Davies' breathtaking catalogue of examples.

Potentially important book, but fatally flawed, 11 Sep 2008
The cover of this book is splattered with quotes saying how important this book is, and they're sort of right. Davies looks with a piercing insiders eye at why the news reported to us -- even from "heavyweight" sources -- is even less dependable than even cynics think. The book clearly shows how commercial factors have all but eliminated any checking of stories, so the media are almost completely at the mercy of PR generated by vested interests.

The problem -- and it's a big one -- is that the book risks being tarred with the same brush (because of carelessness, I hope, and not because Davies sources really are poor). Davies repeatedly quotes the figure of only 12% original input from newsrooms, but only once mentions that there's another 8% that's uncertain so the actual figure is somewhere betweeen 12% and 20%. Responsible reporting would say 16% +/- 4%, or just 16%; by choosing the worst extreme of the range Davies is sensationalising the data. Even worse, the figure of 12% comes from a single study, and no reference is given for the study, so readers cannot check the data. What was the methodology? Was the study ever peer reviewed? In fact, no references are given for anything at all; we have to take Davies' word for everything he says. That's the very thing he complains about journalists doing, the very thing that leads to flat-earth journalism, the very problem he is trying to highlight. Sure, some of his sources would want to remain anonymous, but the total lack of any references at all in a book of this type is completely unforgiveable. And does he have a vested interest? Well, he's a journalist, complaining about massive cuts in employment of journalism, massive cuts in journalists' pay, and massive deterioration in journalists' working conditions: it looks like a vested interest to me (and he admits in part to this at the outset).

If we take the message of this book at all seriously then we can't trust this book at all. That's a real pity, because I think it deals with crucially important issues and Davies may well actually be correct in his allegations. It may just have been a foolish decision -- not to reference anything -- that holed this book beneath the waterline. But with that flaw, the book is sunk.

Establishment journalist turns tables and burns bridges, 07 Sep 2008
Nick Davies used to be a professional journalist. Flat Earth News has to stand as one of the most intensive episodes of bridge-burning in recent writing. Davies turned his focus on his own industry and has produced a highly readable account of how, in his own words, he worked in a, "...corrupted profession."

This isn't a fish-shooting exercise in why tabloid journalism isn't to be trusted; after all, surely nobody reads the gutter press expecting to actually learn something about the world. The red-tops are all about sex, celebrity, sport, trivia - a companion to the fool's lantern. Flat Earth News goes hunting for bigger beasts: the so-called quality press. Neither is this book about which is better, left or right-wing journalism. Davies has both targets in his sites.

Flat Earth News starts with an examination of the Millennium Bug story (remember that?): how certain portions of the world were whipped up into a fear that as the year 1999 rolled over into the year 2000, planes would fall out the sky, prison doors would swing open and all sorts of calamities would happen because most computers weren't equipped to recognise that the date "00" was "2000" and not "1900." As we all know now, none of these predictions of apocalypse came to pass. Davies analyses how one very cautious prediction was picked up and manufactured into something that the original story's author and subject wouldn't have recognised.

Davies then goes further and re-investigates other stories, going back to the people who were meant to have given the quotes and finding that either the stories were misquoting the source, the journalists hadn't even spoken directly to the people involved or that the stories were simply recycling Public Relations hand-outs, designed to promote a person, product or policy. This pattern turned out to be consistent across the board, from The Observer newspaper to The Daily Mail.

Nick Davies' book discusses why journalists are content to take PR propaganda, whether corporate or governmental, and pass it off as their own work - they have so much space to fill and such limited time to research and write, that rules of production demand that they simply churn out a steady stream of articles, using 'safe' sources that are 'official' and 'reliable' rather than using dissident sources that are, by dogmatic definition, 'unreliable' and therefore more time consuming to research.

Other parts of the book discuss media hypocrisy: journalists mouthing off about "law and order" but paying corrupt police and civil servants to illegally source information. Another section provides a case study as to how a left-of-center newspaper (The Observer) became a willing conduit for an illegal pro-war message. Another piece looks at how The Times Insight tea