Customer Reviews
Excellent Adventure - By: J. C. W. Collins, 16 Jul 2008 
Having a copy of the King James Bible & copy of the William Tyndale version of the New Testament, I was very interested to find out where the English language as we know it came from.
This book did not dissappoint me. It took me right from the Anglo Saxon & Norse of the six century, which made up Old English, right through to the Modern English that we alll speak today & how it is spoken in the former colonies of the British Empire. It is very well written & very informative. I enjoyed a great deal the chapters about the influence of French on our language under William the Conquerer, & how increased trade in the Middle Ages & William Shakespeare helped turn the Middle English of William Tyndale into the Early Modern English of the King James Bible.
I think that what I reallly like about this book is the fascinating little facts contained in it's pages. About some of the mistakes in Dr Johnson's Dictionary, or the fact that Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" was the first English novel, or how an African slave would be "sold down the river" to another plantation, where the conditions were harsher, as a punishment. This book is absolutely bursting with such little gems of information. They can barely be numbered.
It is not entirely perfect - as afew of it's passages tend to be a bit long winded & need to read twice to get the full understanding. However, it is a very, very enjoyable read & it finishes with a chapter about what the future of our language might be.
I'll conclude by saying that if you are in any way interested in the origins, influence & amazing success of our mother tongue then read this book. I can't recommend it enough.
Fascinating - nearly excellent - By: Jools, 03 Apr 2008 The evolution of our language is a fascinating story, well told by Melvyn Bragg.
My only very slight complaint is that it's obviously a book aimed at adults, & the squeamish ***ing of swear-words struck me as inappropriate. They're a part of our language like any other & their history deserves to be told without mollycoddling the reader.
(I don't like it when people complain about 'bad language' when it's used appropriately & in context, & I think it's the duty of the rest of us to complain when certain words are shied away from unnecessarily.)
Don't be put off... - By: Mr. A. D. Garner, 25 Feb 2008 
...by the title. This is not a specialist work for the linguist. Any intelligent reader will enjoy it.
Very good book - fades towards end - By: Mist of Time, 16 Oct 2007 This excellently written book takes a backwards look at the 'success' of English as a language both for the English & now for much of the world. From the treatment of the roots of the language, why it contains little from the Roman / pre-Roman to how it survived the Normans this book mainly achieves its purpose of presenting the language as something living that survived despite the odds.
As the narrative moves to the Reformation, the impact of print, Chaucer & Shakespeare the text becomes more & more gripping. I also now finallly have a reason to tell my children why English spelling makes no sense (as opposed to American English).
As recent centuries rush buy it becomes a global Cooks tour & degenerates into short chapters along the lines of 'went to West Indies / Australia / India ...' & picked up lots of words including these couple of dozen used every day. Presumably the changes to the language are not well enough embedded to say more on. Perhaps Melvyn's descendants will update the text in a few hundred years.
Despite this complaint the overalll book well rewards the read.
Superb - By: Dr. D. Fraser, 16 Sep 2007 One can always rely on Melvyn Bragg for quality, no matter what the medium, & he lives up to his reputation here. This book is a trully fine companion to the excellent TV series.
As a one-stop history of the English language this book is as good as you could get. There are a lot of books similar to this one, but Bragg's is the most original & readable I have come across. He gives many examples & word lists to exempliy his story, & original anecdotes embellish his approach. A novel angle is to tell the story of English as if one were telling the life of an individual, & so instil a personal interest in the reader. In many ways languages are like people in that they evolve & change in response to their life experience. Bragg shows how it is this ability of English to eveolve & change more than alll other languages that has led to it becoming the global language.
