Non-fictie

Why does our language groan with the weight of puns? What exactly is a pun? And who, or what, is the Thief of Bad Gags?

The English language is chock-full of maritime metaphors: cock up, taken aback, chip on your shoulder and show a leg. And, with the help of a Greek removals firm, we also find the origin of the word 'metaphor'.

The uses and misuses of quotations are revealed, and there is also a frank confession from a quotation compiler, which we cannot divulge here.

Featuring sick parrots and the cliché crisis that affected the writing of Flaubert, Joyce and Eliot, and helped shape modern language and culture.

Stephen Fry hosts four programmes on the joys of the English language – as heard on BBC Radio 4: 'Current Puns', 'Metaphor', 'Quotation' and 'Cliché'.

In this remarkable collection of BBC recordings, we hear what the people of the Home Front listened to as they lived, loved, laughed and worked through the dark days of World War Two.

The story of the Second World War told by former BBC newsreader Richard Baker, with original recordings from the BBC. This unique chronicle of war has the same rawness and immediacy as when it was first broadcast.