Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Hardcover)

I recommend this book. I know what I mean and I mean what I say when I say "I can't recommend this book highly enough".

'Shorter', in this instance, means two volumes and a CD-ROM. 'Shorter', in this instance, means that as well as comprehensive definitions of each word, you also get a history of the language - when was the word first recorded in use, examples of quotations, examples of changing usage, and even some pronunciation help from the CD-ROM.

The range of words included in the two volumes should more than satisfy anyone but the odd specialist scholar. There is a wide range of scientific words - including floccinaucinihilipilification, a word made famous by television quiz games a few years ago. There is extensive coverage of non-English English. You'll find recent additions to the language - 'Taliban', and 'Prozac', and 'Jedi'. You even get 'grassy knoll', 'road rage', 'snail mail', and 'text message'. These last four demonstrate how quickly words and phrases can be absorbed into everyday usage - and 'grassy knoll' reminds you that words don't just have a definition, they have a context.

It's here that the "Shorter Oxford" exerts its authority and establishes its pre-eminent role as the best dictionary available to the general public. It doesn't just provide sound definition - a lot of excellent dictionaries do that. The "Shorter Oxford" delivers an authoritative description and analysis of the word in context, going beyond comprehensive definition. If you love words, there is endless enjoyment in simply sitting reading this dictionary. I regularly pluck a volume off the shelf to check a meaning ... then find myself engrossed. Get a life? Try looking that up in the dictionary.

Not the cheapest of packages, but undoubtedly the best. This is the dictionary to which you should aspire. Beautifully printed (though you may find you need glasses to read the small print), highly accessible, fine quality paper (flimsy, yet very durable), and with that added cachet of gravitas and intellectual respectability which will impress visitors! Combining CD-ROM and books makes this a doubly useful package - the two volumes will not fit comfortably on your average desk-top, and certainly not in a drawer, but having the CD running while you write at your computer is very useful. A substantial package, not portable by any means, but solid and homely, and a treasure to own.

The dictionary is wonderfully exhaustive and I have never failed to find a word I have looked for or a particular usage. The historical information is useful for determining whether a particular usage should be disallowed since it is now archaic (or for similar 'proof-reader' purposes); the number of scientific entries is reassuring, and the scientific explanations are easy to follow.

Definitions are in the simplest possible English and strikingly succinct.

The logic and clear-thinking of this superlative dictionary mean that no other dictionary is required for native English speakers.

For non-native English speakers, this is also fantastic, but could well be supplemented by any 'co-build' collocations dictionaries and/or dictionaries with margin notes on verbal usage (e.g. prepositional usage with particular verbs and types and number of objects taken).

This book is a joy.