How English Became English

Reviews / Votes

Simon Horobin's marvellous How English Became English ... should be handed to every pedant you know. * Jonathan Wright, Books of the Year 2016, Catholic Herald * In this concise narrative of the history of the English language, Horobin analyzes historical context just enough to unfurl the object called 'English.' * Library Journal, starred review * A happy mixture of scholarship, clear writing, and humour * Kirkus * There's a lot of detailed information in this succinct book and it's very readable * Susan Elkin, Independent on Sunday * informative and entertaining new book * Oliver Kamm, The Times * Horobin is ... on a laudable and ... interesting mission to educate the wider public. * Faramerz Dabhoiwala, Guardian * We all have our hobbyhorses when it comes to the finer points of English grammar. Simon Horobin's witty book provides the antidote to our pedantry. * Jonathan Wright, Herald * Horobin's succinctness is impressive * Times Literary Supplement * Distilling an inexhaustible topic into 170 short pages. Horobin gives an unstuffy guide to the descent, dialects and global diversification of English. Pragmatic rather than pedantic, he eschews grammarian finger-wagging in favour of some pointers on why we still care about getting it 'right'. * Oxford Today * this book was as good as expected * The Bookbag * Horobin clearly loves the English language, but unlike many self-proclaimed language experts, he is not fearful of what the future of English may hold ... How English Became English reminds me what it was that I found so fascinating about the English language. * Jenny Hallquist, Babel *