The Story of English: How an Obscure Dialect Became the World's Most-Spoken Language

by Joseph Piercy

Illustrating the compelling history of how the relatively obscure dialects spoken by tribes from what are now Denmark, the Low Countries, and northern Germany became the most widely spoken language in the world, this book also explores how that language evolved during the last two millennia. Chronologically ordered and divided into six sections covering pre-Roman and Latin influences, the ascent of Old English, and the succession of Middle English, Early Modern, and then Late Modern English to today's global language, this book also explores the history of the printing press, the works of Chaucer, the evolution of The American Dictionary of the English Language —commonly known as Webster's —and the magisterial  Oxford English Dictionary , to the use of slang in today's speech and electronic messaging.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, History, Linguistics, Reference, Ebooks

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2012

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 1 out of 5]

As you might be able to tell from my status updates, I was very unimpressed by this. It's badly edited, for one thing -- apparently, the Romans sent an army comprised of 40,000 centurions to Britain. I think Piercy meant "legionaries". Piercy also wasn't terribly clear on the plot of Beowulf, and the king in Beowulf is apparently called "Hroogar".

Also, he's apparently not a man given to critical thinking: 'There is a tendency to view the word 'Empire' in a negative light, but in truth the Roman occupation had a civilising effect on the early Britons. Prior to Roman rule, the Celtic tribes were disparate and insular (and, I assume, fighting each other).' One, you assume?! How about you try doing your fucking research? Two, oh my god, the stink of colonialism coming off this! The Romans, civilised? Gee, what about slavery, decimation, gladiators, crucifixion? Go read The Spartacus War (Barry Strauss) or The Colosseum (Mary Beard & Keith Hopkins) and come back and tell me the Romans are civilised.

Needless to say, I gave up on this.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but I feel it may disappoint folks looking for something linguistically-focused, as it's primarily historical. Moreover, I could see readers complaining it's "slight" as it covers highlights.

[James Rye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, and although I used to teach the subject to undergraduates for over 10 years, I managed to learn a few new things from it. It achieved what it set out to do - provide an enjoyable and informative broad survey.

The strength of the book for me is the summaries of key literary figures (and occasional works) that the author provides along the way.

My main minor criticism is that more space is given to people and general events than to language. Although language is discussed, in my view it needed more detail and more explanation. For example, in my view, two of the most important things to happen in the story of the English language are the loss of Old English inflections and the move from grammatical to natural gender, and yet these important happenings receive little attention.

Despite this criticism, I can recommend this book, especially to the general reader who wants to get an overview of the field.

[Lily Brim · Rating 2 out of 5]

more of a history of english literature than a history of english - and very much focused on English English. scant mentions of AAVE, north american english, australian english, and no mentions of irish english or patois from what i can recall… bizarre to write a book on the history of english and neglect to include anything but what makes a handful of modern english speakers. not a terrible book—at least it was easy to understand—but like i said, it doesnt really delve that deeply into the actual linguistic changes and feels like more of a half assed regurgitation of much better texts ive read on english history. also author hardly talked abt british imperialism despite that arguably being one of the greatest drives in the spread of the language??? weird vibes

[Ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

What you would expect from a £2 book from The Works. Snippets of very interesting facts between sloppily written book reviews.

[Khadijah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first non-fiction books I've read cover to cover, I may be biased as an English Graduate but I loved this book & am of the opinion that anyone who speaks English should read this, or at the very least learn the story of English. This book really showed how hand in hand linguistic development is with geographical movement, the publication of literature & the never ending technological advancements of our age. Overall it's a more historical overview than an in-depth scientific study of the language. The only downside of the book was that it felt a bit incomplete near the end, but then how can we really capture modern day English nuances when they change at so rapid a pace! It could have touched a little more on the affects of imperialism on modern English and the various patois, pidgins and creoles that have resulted from it but I do acknowledge that this is the story of English and not a current study of it. There are several researchers and works to read in that field.

[Chris]

Okay, I guess I meant to read this book The Story of English but I'm glad I spotted this other Story of English in the library and mistook it for the one I was originally looking for. Otherwise, maybe I wouldn't have learned that the Ormulum was important for standardizing Middle English, or that the Domesday Book is a list of taxes, but has the Scandinavian word for judgement (domme) in its title. Kind of like A Little History of the World except about the English language.

[Mallee Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The history of English is a fascinating adventure, but this particular version was a little too heavy on biographies of some of the people who influenced English for my liking. I even failed to identify any connection to the book's topic with Thomas Hobbes' biography. I ended up skipping many details of lives because facts like — a law unto themselves — one of the many sayings from Shakespeare's plays was what was more interesting. There were also omissions such as no reference to Arabic words that are part of our common language today nor the influence of the US negro population.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting highlights from our literary history, solely focused on British males' influence.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Language is a curious thing. As people use language, they amend it and modify it. Eventually, all those influences merge into a melting pot of meaning and pronunciation. Language is a living thing. As we speak it, we modify it. Languages that freeze in place and don't change are dead tongues. Latin is a great example of a dead language. People can study it, but it isn't in widespread use anymore except in specific situations.

The English language is no different. If you look at a text written in Old English like Beowulf, the spelling doesn't match up to anything.

The Story of English by Joseph Piercy focuses on English's development from an obscure West Germanic dialect in the Indo-European family to the most widespread spoken language in the world.

The book covers a lot of ground, from the first spread of English to the British Isles to the Modern uses of the Internet. The book lightly brushes against the Great Vowel Shift and other events. The book covers Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales, The Venerable Bede, several translations of the Bible, William Shakespeare, John Milton, and Francis Bacon.

I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.

[Shannon McShortall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An incredibly informative book that is at times monotonous and lacking momentum, but when it’s good it’s great, and those slower moments may be the highlights for some people.

The storytelling, given the subject matter, is excellent. Joseph Piercy is clearly well versed in the subject, and injects a sly humour into parts of this historical epic that starts to bring shape to itself the closer we get to modern day. It also really works for a philosophical perspective of putting oneself within the wide history of the language they speak and seeing where they fall.

It does struggle greatly with editing, with some lines printed strangely and words spelled poorly, and this matters in a book like this. There are is also a somewhat subtle but still present feeling of disconnected judgment of these historical figures and events that isn’t particularly welcome at points, and this comes down to what a strong editor could’ve removed.

Overall a good book, but difficult to parse through when separated over multiple reading sessions due to how information-dense it is.

[Philippa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting bits but a short, once-over-lightly read, and I didn't learn much. Possibly better for readers whose first language is not English and who want to know a little about the evolution of the language, but the subject deserves a much more in-depth look. So much more to explore. The stuff on colonisation was cursory and slavery wasn't even mentioned. The cross pollination of many languages with English needed much more detail.
There was the odd sentence that seemed clunky; words misspelt (loose cannon correctly then eight pages later loose "canon"); horde instead of hoard; and I failed to see the relevance of a few pages about Thomas Hobbes.

[Hannah Semmelhack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light reading that follows the English language through wars, battles, important figures, important literature, etc. It has already dated itself by including a chapter on current English speech (many of the features he identifies are part of internet-speak, which has already left his book behind) but otherwise he provides a neat overview of the many many forms of English, complete with interesting little stories and fun facts. Would recommend to someone hoping to get more familiar with English!

[David Szatkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book (only 192 pages) but quite fun. Learning the history of the language helps you to learn the culture, history, and ways of thinking of the people who litter its history and impacted it. For anyone who wants to know why English is as it is, this book is an easy start to learning the answers.

[Ruby Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts of this book were really interesting and introduced me to concepts that I didn't really know about, but then other parts I felt like I was just being told about famous English writers without any focus on the language specifically? It was a nice little read but not really the book I thought it would be and I wish there had been more linguistics.

[Giovanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating subject matter and I certainly learned a lot, but the book has a handful of errors that were quite off-putting. It's brevity is both a positive and a negative point - giving a great sweeping overview, but never quite digging deep enough.

[Nkavvadias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book. The second part is stronger than the first, especially the post-Tudor exposition is rewarding. I found the material on the more archaic forms of English (starting around the 7th century CE) less coherent, but maybe it is the fragmentary nature of the material to blame.

[Calenmarwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting summary of the history of the English language

[Trung · Rating 5 out of 5]

a concise work on the history of english language. highly recommended!

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Languages fasinate me and it was great to discover how English came to be.

[David Szatkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short book (clearly). But it is a good look at this history of English and is a fun book.

[Jenny Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history of the English language in accessible language. Well worth a read. I certainly learnt a lot.

[Birgit Ingermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well explained and interesting topics. A lot of fun facts.

[Charlotte Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, it's full title being The Story of English: How an Obscure Dialect Became the World's Most-Spoken Language, does exactly what it says on the cover. Piercy goes through the evolution of the English language from 40BC to nowadays, giving historical influences and other interesting facts about how a language develops over time.

I think this book would be great for anyone interested in the history of the English language who doesn't know much about it as this book gives a great overview of everything and is written in such a way that makes it very accessible to a beginner. However, if you know quite a lot about language, maybe this would be the book for you because, at only 192 pages, it doesn't go very in-depth into any of the subjects.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this educational non-fiction book and it has definitely made me interested in reading more about the English language and the history of language in general. I would recommend this book, but as I said, it is pretty surface level at times so if you already have some knowledge about this topic, this book probably wouldn't be the best for you.

[Jo Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked about Piercy's 'The Story of English' is that it narrates a comprehensive journey from the beginnings of the English Language to possibilities of its future in a way that was accessible to all. I learnt a fair amount and reminded myself of some forgotten facts, and it will assist me in my current studies. For those who are looking for a more technical or deeper explanation of the journey of the English Language you won't necessarily find it in this book, but if what you're wanting is an easy to read guide with some insight into the way languages work then Piercy's book is for you.
An informative and interesting read that will challenge, but not too much.

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a secret Santa present. Muchos gracias Santa! A very interesting read telling the story of how English came into existence and how influences on it have changed and moulded it over the years. A book that filled in some gaps for me and cleared up some questions. Most thrillingly, it comprehensively debunks the idea of a proper/Queen's English as a class-ridden and retrograde anachronism. My friend Tony would have approved wholheartedly. Very readble for the non-specialist as well as those inside the words business.

[Katheryn Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Secret) Santa bought it for me as a bit of fun but I found it really interesting, and good if you want an overview of the English language - if you're interested in it but don't know where to start. It then allows you to do more research into the parts you found the most fascinating. It's a light and enjoyable read (and shocked the person who bought it for me as a laugh).

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very interesting little anecdotes about the evolution of English. I can understand how hardcore linguists probably were frustrated by the style of this book, but for the amateur linguists, it's a nice easy read.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent little read. Not perfectly accurate; but enjoyable. Assumes nothing and gave a few fill-in facts.

Liked it.

[Ming · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't vouch for its accuracy, but it's entertaining and engaging enough. Plus, I was pleasantly surprised to find a section on Singlish.