History of the English Language

Description

A History of the English Language in 100 Places is a joyous ride through time, where readers can criss-cross the British Isles and the world at large to land in a hundred contrasting places and light on a hundred wonderful topics that bring the extraordinary story of the English language alive. Any selection of places is inevitably personal. Nevertheless, a number of criteria have directed the selection process in this book. Some places represent historic firsts, some are tied to significant people and some have seen events that have shaped the future of English. Each one takes the reader on an unmissable journey into the rich past of the English tongue. What began as the language of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes on a small island has become a global property owned and shaped by almost 2 billion English speakers across the world. English has borrowed words from more than 350 languages, and many more languages have borrowed words from English. In an age of cheap air travel and internet communication we have become a global village. If you've ever been curious about the global language that binds us all together, A History of the English Language in 100 Places is for you.

Bill Lucas is Professor of Learning and Co-Director at the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester. He is also a trustee of the English Project, Chairman of the Talent Foundation and a Patron of Pegasus Theatre, Oxford. Christopher Mulvey is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Winchester. A prolific writer, he is also Managing Editor at the Winchester University Press and a trustee of the English Project. David Crystal received an OBE for services to the English language in 1995, and was made a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 2000. He now lives in Holyhead.

'The title may insist on 100 places but richly, carefully, the book gives the impression of many more.' - Michael Thomas, Times Literary Supplement