Wordplay: Sample Texts

The sections of text here are extracted from two of our guides, and are intended to give you some idea of our approach to content, style and diction.

The first is an extract from a historical guide to Roman Chester, which has been a popular seller for some 10 years. It is based around the National Curriculum and is deliberately written as a multi-layered text suitable for readers of different ages, learning styles and abilities.

Eternal Rome
IN ITS HEYDAY IN AD117, the mighty Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic coast of Britain to the deserts of north Africa and Iraq. It ruled the lives of 60 million people, took in the territory of some 30 modern countries, and covered around 6,500,000 square kilometers. Confident of their enduring power, the Romans spoke of Roma aeterna - eternal Rome.

Influence and Invasion
Britain first came under the influence of Rome following the conquest of Gaul - now modern France - in 51BC. But although Julius Caesar had made two expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54BC, it wasn't until AD43 that the Emperor Claudius invaded with a much larger force. Despite British resistance, within four years the Romans were firmly established across south-east England.

The Roman Peace
New roads linked a network of forts; new coins were issued and taxes collected; new towns and villa estates sprang up across the country. The Roman way of life seemed to offer enormous benefits - stability, security and prosperity. Yet not everyone wanted these things; and in answer the Romans built three great legionary fortresses at Caerleon, York and Chester.

The second piece comes from a walking guide written and produced for The National Trust at Carding Mill Valley in Shropshire, UK.

Ancient Rocks
THE LONG MYND WAS CREATED when some of Britain's oldest rocks were pushed to the surface along the Church Stretton fault. Now almost vertical, these sedimentary strata were formed at the very start of life on earth: the only fossils are of raindrops that fell in the unimaginable past. Ice and water have since smoothed the plateau which today falls away in a steep scarp to the west, with deeply-cut stream valleys, or 'batches', to the east. Aptly, perhaps, the name Mynd comes from mynedd, the Welsh for mountain.

Manmade Landscape
In contrast, the surface of the hill has been shaped by human activity over thousands of years. A Neolithic ridgeway runs along the spine of the Mynd. Bronze Age burial mounds, Iron Age hillforts, and medieval packhorse routes mark the moor. Today's open heathland is the culmination of centuries of grazing by animals and controlled burning to encourage grouse. Without the constant intervention of man, the heathland with its valuable wildlife would soon revert to scrub and woodland.

'Little Switzerland'
The hills remained quiet until the local railway line was upgraded in the 1880s. Over the next twenty years the Church Stretton Advancement Association advertised the area as 'Little Switzerland', laid out a Lovers' Walk, and promoted Long Mynd spring water as a cure-all for gout, rheumatism, and 'sluggishness of the liver'. From the 1920s onwards the area became popular for West Midlands' day-trippers; and today the Carding Mill Valley alone attracts over 250,000 people a year, with another 150,000 visiting the plateau.

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