Hi Alastair,
The title bar is always present. It shows the book title, whether there's an SD card, the battery and the time.
There's also a foot showing which page you're on and how far through the book you are.
As far as I can see, there's no way to remove them.
I can honestly say that I don't find them annoying - although it would be nice to have more screen real-estate.
T