Table of Contents

The Story of EnglishList of Maps
New Introduction to the Third Edition
Introduction: Speaking of English
1. An English-Speaking World
2. The Mother Tongue
3. A Muse of Fire
4. The Guid Scots Tongue
5. The Loaded Weapon
6. Black on White
7. Pioneers! O Pioneers!
8. The Echoes of an English Voice
9. The New Englishes
10. Next Year's Words
Notes and Sources
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index

About the Author

Robert McCrum is the author of six novels and My Year Off: Rediscovering Life After a Stroke. Now literary editor of The Observer, he is working on an authorized biography of P. G. Wodehouse.

Robert MacNeil was the co-anchor of PBS's The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. His books include two volumes of memoirs and three novels including his latest, Breaking News.

William Cran is the executive producer for the television series The Story of English.

Reviews

"Highly enjoyable...A first-rate introduction to one of the most fascinating of subjects." —The New York Times"Rarely has the English language been scanned so brightly and broadly in a single volume." —The San Francisco Chronicle