The Adventure of English by Melvyn Bragg
Here is the riveting story of the English language, from its humble beginnings as a regional dialect to its current preeminence as the one global language, spoken by more than two billion people worldwide. In this groundbreaking book, Melvyn Bragg shows how English conquered the world. It is a magnificent adventure, full of jealousy, intrigue, and war—against a hoard of invaders, all armed with their own conquering languages, which bit by bit, the speakers of English absorbed and made their own. Along the way, its colorful story takes in a host of remarkable people, places, and events: the Norman invasion of England in 1066; the arrival of The Canterbury Tales and a “coarse” playwright named William Shakespeare, who added 2,000 words to the language; the songs of slaves; the words of Davy Crockett; and the Lewis and Clark expedition, which led to hundreds of new words as the explorers discovered unknown flora and fauna. The Adventure of English is an enthralling story not only of power, religion, and trade, but also of a people and how they changed the world.
Bragg, Melvyn: - Melvyn Bragg is a writer and broadcaster. He was editor and presenter of The South Bank Show from 1978-2010 and presents the BBC Radio 4 series In Our Time. 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, The Soldier's Return, winner of the W.H. Smith Literary Award, A Son of War and Crossing the Lines, both of which were longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, A Place in England, which was longlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize, and most recently, Now is the Time (Sceptre, 2015). He lives in London and Cumbria, UK.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781611450071 |
| ISBN 10 | 1611450071 |
| Title | The Adventure of English |
| Author | Melvyn Bragg |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Skyhorse Publishing |
| Year published | 2011-04-21 |
| Number of pages | 336 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |