What's in an English Place-name?: A History of England in Its Place-names

by William Lewis

Wondering how British place-names came into existence? Discover the meanings behind the names of England's towns and villages from the author of the bestselling ‘What’s in your Surname?’ After spending decades researching and writing about the history of names, William Lewis turns his attention to English place-names, offering a comprehensive guide to the fascinating origins of such names as Birdoswald, Jodrell Bank, California (Norfolk), Westward Ho! and Giggleswick - and many, many more.In this engaging and entertaining volume, you will • the origins of place-names from earliest times to the present day• the five classifications of place-names• an extensive list of place-names in England taken from the Bible• how personal names, tribal names and even names of gods have featured in English place-names• and how the Romans and other invading forces shaped the place-names of EnglandIf you want to follow an absorbing and entertaining trail through the history of English place-names then you will certainly enjoy William Lewis’s detailed look behind the scenes at how England’s villages, towns and cities acquired their names.Read What’s in a Place-name? today to discover the origins of hundreds of place-names in England.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

259 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 12, 2011

Reviews

[Roger Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough, if slightly obsessional and somewhat repetitive covering of the topic. A major drawback to the Kindle edition is that the many tables that are used to display collections of illustrative material are a fixed small font size and oriented at right angles to the main text. Difficult to read when only a small amount of information in them. Impossible (most of the time) when the table contains a great deal of information.

[A.L. Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle edition has bad formatting, with run-on words. The tables provided are in a tiny font, which means scrolling the font right up to read them, or having it set on a huge font. They are also vertical, which is offputting halfway down a page.

It's fairly interesting but a bit dry in places.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable read, but it IS necessary to concentrate. Lewis provides a lot of information on every page and I found myself having to go back on myself every now and then to really take everything in. But that says more about the environment I chose to read in than the book itself.

It really is a fascinating insight into the influence of language on place names as well as a concise history of the people who have lived on our island over the centuries. Just the sort of stuff I love to learn about. Mr. Lewis has written two similarly themed books which I intend to read during the coming year.

[Rob Sedgwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always think history is most interesting when it's about why the world we see around us is the way it is. I prefer reading about the everyday than kings, queens, nobles and great battles. Place names are one of the obvious things that history has bequeathed us. This book races through the last 2000+ years and picks out many examples of how settlements got their names. It's not the easiest of reads at times but is certainly a good general introduction before a more detailed study of a particular time or place.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, but rather on the dense side.

The kindle edition also suffered from some unfortunate formatting issues.

[Richard Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is probably best read in small chunks. Unfortunately I read it all in one go and was simply overwhelmed by the amount of information. Though the chronological layout is fascinating I simply lost track of my -by, -bourne, -ton, -thwaite... etc.

[Henry Lardings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very easy to read and fascinating story of place-names. Highly recommend to anyone intersted in history, language and the evolution of place-names in Britain.

[Mhd]

Sample was extremely interesting, much so more than I had expected. I think I'd like to own this book.