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The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language (2003)

by Melvyn Bragg

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1,6923510,206 (3.7)56
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 Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH is not only an enthralling story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.… (more)
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Showing 1-5 of 35 (next | show all)
Like oxygen, the English language is an invisible and highly under appreciated part of our lives. Take an audible journey through its history in this most interesting work. English is very much alive and constantly changing. Appreciate the voyage to today's version before it becomes as dated as Chaucer's Middle English. The audible version richly rewards you with all the varied dialect pronunciations. ( )
  jemisonreads | Jan 22, 2024 |
A pretty fun history of the language from its early Scandinavian roots to world dominance today. Gets a little draggy sometimes (Bragg would like that I went to the trouble to choose the word), but all in all an engaging read. ( )
  mikeolson2000 | Dec 27, 2023 |
This was one of these books that I had to read in small doses. It was interesting and I learned quite a bit about the history of our language, but it took me a while to finish it. ( )
  Wren73 | Mar 4, 2022 |
This is possibly one of my favourite books. ( )
  KittyCatrinCat | Aug 29, 2021 |
Appears that the author had a bit too much fun writing this book. Still enough content left to keep it interesting. ( )
  Paul_S | Dec 23, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 35 (next | show all)
Bragg sees the English Language as a living organism, with hopes, fears, courage and determination all of its own. Its history is an epic tale of breaking free from the confines of mainland Europe, leaping into the wide expanse of the British Isles, heroic resistance to the onslaught of the Vikings, then cruel defeat by the Normans, dark years of oppression as it gazes upon looming extinction. Then, just when all seems lost, comes triumph over its enemies, a glorious blooming, a bursting forth to take on the world and win the prize of Top Language, as it has always felt its destiny to be.
 

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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 Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH is not only an enthralling story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.

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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 Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH is not only an enthralling story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter One: The Common Tongue

Chapter Two: The Great Escape

Chapter Three: Conquest

Chapter Four: Holding On

Chapter Five: The Speech of Kings

Chapter Six: Chaucer

Chapter Seven: God's English

Chapter Eight: English and the Language of the State

Chapter Nine: William Tyndale's Bible

Chapter Ten: A Renaissance of Words

Chapter Eleven: Preparing the Ground

Chapter Twelve: Shakespeare's English

Chapter Thirteen: My American

Chapter Fourteen: Wild West Words

Chapter Fifteen: Sold Down the River

Chapter Sixteen: Mastering the Language

Chapter Seventeen: The Proper Way to Talk

Chapter Eighteen: Steam, Streets, and Slang

Chapter Nineteen: Indian Takeover

Chapter Twenty: The West Indies

Chapter Twenty-one: Advance Australia

Chapter Twenty-two: Warts and All

Chapter Twenty-three: All Over the World

Chapter Twenty-four: And Now . . . ?

Acknowledgements
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Hachette Book Group

2 editions of this book were published by Hachette Book Group.

Editions: 1559707100, 1559707844

Arcade Publishing

An edition of this book was published by Arcade Publishing.

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