Binding: Paperback
Description: Wordsmiths and Warriors explores the heritage of English through the places in Britain that shaped it. It unites the warriors whose invasions transformed the language with the poets scholars reformers and others who helped create its character. The book relates a real journey. David and Hilary Crystal drove thousands of miles to produce this fascinating combination of English - language history and travelogue from locations in south - east Kent to the Scottish lowlands and from south - west Wales to the East Anglian coast. David provides the descriptions and linguistic associations Hilary the full - colour photographs. They include a guide for anyone wanting to follow in their footsteps but arrange the book to reflect the chronology of the language. This starts with the Anglo - Saxon arrivals in Kent and in the places that show the earliest evidence of English. It ends in London with the latest apps for grammar. In between are intimate encounters with the places associated with such writers as Chaucer Shakespeare and Wordsworth; the biblical Wycliffe and Tyndale; the dictionary compilers Cawdrey Johnson and Murray; dialect writers elocutionists and grammarians and a host of other personalities. Among the book's many joys are the diverse places that allow warriors such as Byrhtnoth and King Alfred to share pages with wordsmiths like Robert Burns and Tim Bobbin and the unexpected discoveries that enliven every stage of the authors epic journey.
Title: Wordsmiths And Warriors The English - Language Tourist's Guide To Britain
Author(s): Crystal Hilary
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Barcode: 9780198729136
Pages: 440 Pages, 160 Full Colour Photographs, Figures
Publication Date: 5/1/2015
Category: Travel Writing