The Adventure Of English
The Biography of a Language
- Paperback
368 pages
- Release Date
14 April 2005
Summary
English is the collective work of millions of people throughout the ages. It is democratic, ever-changing and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. English runs through the heart of world finance, medicine and the Internet, and it is understood by around two thousand million people across the world. Yet it was very nearly wiped out in its early years.
In this book Melvyn Bragg shows us the remarkable story of the English language; from its beginnings as a minor guttural Ger…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780340829936 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0340829931 |
| Author: | Melvyn Bragg |
| Publisher: | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Imprint: | Sceptre |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 368 |
| Release Date: | 14 April 2005 |
| Weight: | 284g |
| Dimensions: | 28mm x 128mm x 198mm |
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Critics Review
Melvyn Bragg’s superb new history of the English language is told as an adventure story, and rightly so. There is much splendid intellectual firepower in this book. - Andrew Roberts, Spectator
Concise as well as learned…Melvyn Bragg takes the high road and strides confidently through the origins and growth of English. It gives us an impressive and sage view of the big picture. - Robert Winder, New StatesmanBragg is an expert translator in areas that academics find difficult to popularise…he produces a pithy, accessible narrative. - GuardianThis breathless tale of the English language is one of struggle, resilience and triumph - Irish TimesBeautifully clear and, indeed, thrilling - Waterstone’s Books QuarterlyBragg’s approachable account gleams with little gems. It has power and clarity…rewarding. - Sunday HeraldAlways readable, often thought-provoking, and consistently entertaining. - IndependentThis is a highly readable, jargon-free treatise on a notoriously prickly subject. Bragg’s affection for his subject is infectious. In this he successfully joins a long tradition of gentleman enthusiasts from peppery Dr Johnson to genial James Murray. - ObserverMelvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg’s first novel, For Want of a Nail, was published in 1965. His novels include The Hired Man, for which he won the Time/Life Silver Pen Award, Without a City Wall, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, Credo, The Maid of Buttermere and The Soldier’s Return, which won the WHSmith Literary Award. He has also written several works of non-fiction including Speak for England, an oral history of the twentieth century, Rich, a biography of Richard Burton and On Giants’ Shoulders, a history of science based on his BBC radio series. He was born in 1939 and educated at Wigton’s Nelson Tomlinson School and at Oxford where he read history. He is controller of Arts at LWT and President of the National Campaign for the Arts, and in 1998 he was made a life peer. He lives in London and Cumbria.
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