Excellent introduction to the subject, well written highly recommended. ( )

http://pixxiefishbooks.blogspot.com/2...

I kept seeing this book in the English-language section of one of the bookstores in nearby Nagoya, and finally I had to buy it. And man, what a compelling read!

As the title suggests, Melvyn Bragg has set out to give us a history of the English language. But far from being dry and pedantic, he has a humorous, often light-hearted twist on the story. He gives further details where needed, and glosses over other parts of the story when they are not key to the advancement of the telling. (A skill I sorely lack.) The result is a thoroughly entertaining read about an important movement in history - the development and entrenchment of the English language across large swathes of the world.

Obviously, this book is a little Euro- ethnocentric, but, well, it is about the English language specifically (not just language in general), so that's hardly avoidable. While he sometimes explodes into overblown grandeur, overall Bragg does a good job of recognizing his bias (and, indeed, the bias of the language itself).

This book is apparently at least based in part on a television documentary (I think for the BBC) that Bragg did a few years earlier, but that's all I know. ( )

Fascinating! It is truly a biography of the English language, tracing it from its first beginnings, through invasions that threatened to end the language, to modern-day English. It is very detailed, with more examples than the ordinary reader probably needs or wants, but you can always skip over some of the examples.

It will take me forever to finish, as I need to read it slowly to take it all in. Plus I'll probably read dozens of fiction books while still reading this one. I am savoring it. It's fantastic! ( )

In scholarly and lively fashion, Bragg traces the development of the English language from the first arrival here of Germanic tribes, and Anglo-Saxon scripts, to `coca-colonisation' and texting, taking in on the way literature, dialects. accents, bowdlerisation, class, international influences, industry, sci/tech, the internet.
Some apposite quotes are irresistible. As Norman French came to dominate the language in the 13th century `There was, however, a fifth column: English women (through intermarriage); in the 16th century `Poetry became the benchmark for English'; with the rise of Jane Austen, `An unofficial academy of language was developed through the novel'; `Mrs Beeton could not bring herself to write the word "trousers"'. There are beautiful illustrations, from early manuscripts to phorographs of jazz, jitterbugging and Singaporean comics.
A long and fascinating read for lovers of the language.

I'm a fiend for facts about language, and I normally enjoy books like this. Although I did learn many interesting things about the nature and history of our mongrel language, I found the book less than totally engaging. I spent about a month picking away at it, and finally finished it during a 3am battle with insomnia. I didn't dog ear a single page, and I never felt the need to pick up a highlighter, which means nothing in here really captured my imagination. ( )