The Story Of English
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Few forces have shaped human civilisation as profoundly as the English language, and The Story of English charts its extraordinary 1,500-year journey from a minor Germanic dialect spoken on the shores of northern Europe to the most widely spoken language on the planet. Robert McCrum, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil — the team behind the landmark BBC/PBS television series of the same name — present a sweeping and authoritative narrative that chronicles the language's conquest of continents, its absorption of foreign words, and its remarkable capacity for reinvention across centuries and cultures. From the Anglo-Saxon mead halls of Beowulf to the jazz-infused streets of New Orleans, from the Queen's English to Caribbean creoles, the authors map out the astonishing diversity of a language that refuses to stand still. Written with the narrative verve of great popular history, The Story of English argues that language is never merely a tool of communication but a living record of migration, empire, commerce, and identity. The authors illustrate how wars, trade routes, colonial ambitions, and pop culture have each left their indelible mark on English vocabulary and syntax, producing a tongue of breathtaking range and adaptability. Praised as an international bestseller and endorsed by Oxford Dictionaries, this is both a scholarly achievement and an utterly compelling read for anyone who has ever marvelled at the sheer reach of the language they speak — and wondered how on earth it got there.
Author: Robert Mccrum, William Cran, Robert Macneil
Format: Paperback
Genre: Reference & language
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Few forces have shaped human civilisation as profoundly as the English language, and The Story of English charts its extraordinary 1,500-year journey from a minor Germanic dialect spoken on the shores of northern Europe to the most widely spoken language on the planet. Robert McCrum, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil — the team behind the landmark BBC/PBS television series of the same name — present a sweeping and authoritative narrative that chronicles the language's conquest of continents, its absorption of foreign words, and its remarkable capacity for reinvention across centuries and cultures. From the Anglo-Saxon mead halls of Beowulf to the jazz-infused streets of New Orleans, from the Queen's English to Caribbean creoles, the authors map out the astonishing diversity of a language that refuses to stand still. Written with the narrative verve of great popular history, The Story of English argues that language is never merely a tool of communication but a living record of migration, empire, commerce, and identity. The authors illustrate how wars, trade routes, colonial ambitions, and pop culture have each left their indelible mark on English vocabulary and syntax, producing a tongue of breathtaking range and adaptability. Praised as an international bestseller and endorsed by Oxford Dictionaries, this is both a scholarly achievement and an utterly compelling read for anyone who has ever marvelled at the sheer reach of the language they speak — and wondered how on earth it got there.