Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #173788 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-05
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From the Author
This book has been thoroughly "road-tested" on my adult Latin students, and they have all really enjoyed learning the joys of Latin via "everyday" examples: quotations, abbreviations, familiar phrases, epitaphs, inscriptions, and music texts from the Latin Mass to Christmas Carols and Carmina Burana.

This is the hardback, commerically produced edition of the book I originally self-published as plain old "Latin for Everyday Life" under my own Pineapple Publications imprint. I'm thrilled that Tempus have picked it up and produced such a fine (and affordable!) edition for the general reader.

From the Back Cover
Everybody remembers the Queen's `Annus Horribilis', but what do 'quid pro quo' and 'habeas corpus' mean? Why do plants have Latin names? Why do families, towns, countries and even football teams have Latin mottoes? What do the Latin epitaphs in churches say? What are the words of Mozart's 'Requiem'?

These are just a few of the topics covered in this book. As Mark Walker makes clear, present-day English is still steeped in its Roman and Latin origins. As a result English still has many thousands of Latin words in everyday use.

Caveat emptor!

About the Author
Mark Walker teaches Latin to adults in Buckinghamshire. He is also the author of the historical epic Amida: A Novel; (ISBN 0954747305), the true story of a city under siege on the most dangerous frontier of the Roman Empire.

Customer Reviews

Fun, informative, useful!
Chock full of interesting examples of Latin out there in the "everyday" world, Annus Horribilis is probably best suited to those who already know a little Latin. (You'll need a dictionary and grammar book to really get the best out of it -- especially if you want to have a crack at the translations -- the appendix on Latin grammar is more of a reminder than any attempt at a full explanation).

The early chapters are straightforward, containing examples of familiar phrases, abbreviations, mottoes and so forth (including mottoes for James Bond and Hogwarts!). But then the book changes tack and introduces some longer pieces: beginning with Church Latin and selections from the Vulgate Bible (incl. "Pater noster").

This is followed by chapters whose general theme is "musical" Latin: the Mass, Requiem, Stabat Mater, Christmas Carols (Adeste Fideles etc), Carmina Burana, Gaudeamus Omnes -- that is, Latin texts probably best known in their musical settings. Anyone who has Mozart's Requiem on CD, for example, should really enjoy these.

Then follow two final chapters on Roman inscriptions (v. useful if planning a trip to Rome!) and epitaphs in English churches (including the complete text of the poet Edmund Waller's epitaph).

The format in all the later chapters is to give the full Latin text then copious notes below which are intended to help the reader execute their own translation (full English translations are provided at the back of the book for reference).

All in all, a refreshing new approach to Latin pitched at adults who are curious to find out for themselves.

Pocket sized but hard backed!
This is the pocket sized edition of Mark Walker's A4 textbook 'Latin for Everyday Life' that he originally produced in spiral bound format for his Buckinghamshire adult Latin learners' class. This Tempus edition is nicely produced with a dust jacket and includes a small grammar reference at the back whereas the original textbook had quite a large section on Latin grammar. However, if you need to go into the full details of the Latin grammar for translations then a standard Latin grammar book and a conventional Latin dictionary would be required.

A refreshing alternative
I've just got this book and am impressed by its scope and its un-stuffy and un-academic style. I found particularly useful the last chapter on epitaphs, which has a handy crib of commonly used words and phrases to be found on latin epitaphs in churches.

It's not really a textbook in the accepted sense, as there are no practice exercises and you'll need a separate dictionary and a Latin grammar book if you want to get to grips with the translations of the longer selections. But you can also browse the text, especially of the early chapters, just for pleasure.

A pleasant alternative to the standard textbook Latin courses available.