Trade in Yours
For a £0.25 Gift Card
Trade in
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 
Share your own customer images
Search inside another edition of this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Globish: How the English Language became the World's Language [Hardcover]

Robert McCrum (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --   -- --
Paperback £6.89   -- --
Audio, CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged £12.49   -- --
Audio Download, Unabridged £14.84 or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial
Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in Globish: How the English Language became the World's Language for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Learn more

Book Description

Publication Date: 27 May 2010 | ISBN-10: 0670916404 | ISBN-13: 978-0670916405

What were the beginnings of the English language?

Why has American culture spread so successfully and will it continue to do so even as the country's power apparently wanes?

Why are the West Indies no longer any good at cricket?

What difference did slavery make to the way we speak English today?

Packed with nuggets of information about language, culture, history and power, Robert McCrum traces the way that the English language as twisted and turned in response to the way the world has changed, and how, even as the British Empire is long dead, the language extends its influence further and further in a globalised world.

Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed

Product details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Viking (27 May 2010)
  • Language: Unknown
  • ISBN-10: 0670916404
  • ISBN-13: 978-0670916405
  • Product Dimensions: 14.4 x 3 x 22.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 486,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Robert McCrum Page
Robert McCrum
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Product Description

Review

Robert McCrum argues, brilliantly and provocatively, that England s greatest contribution to the world is English. The empire may be gone. But Globish explains why the language still rules. --Malcolm Gladwell --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Search inside this book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars
6 reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Recycling and watering down 1 Dec 2010
By commodityfetish
Format:Hardcover
This book is a re-hashed attempt to create an unecessary buzzword / brand to present ideas that have previously been put forward in other, more thorough research. His discussion of Globish takes place from his arm chair, with anecdotal accounts of English spread and no reference to any research or opinion from the many fields that discuss English in global contexts.

I find it insulting that this book has received so much attention, and that McCrum now writes as a popular oracle on English language spread, when in fact his ignorance regarding previous literature on English as a Lingua Franca, Global Englises, World Englishes, English as an International Language, Language Spread and New Literacies is simply astonishing. Whether he avoids literature in these fields to claim (falsely) the higher public profile he now enjoys, or whether he is simply too arrogant to read anything about the spread of English (as he thought he'd be more interesting) is uncertain. What is certain is the lack of empiricism in this book, and the side-step he has given those scholars who expressed similar views (far more effectively and with more relevance, I might add).

In short, this is not academic, it is not well argued (partially as a result) and I believe it is unethical (academic integrity has been violated in my view - especially with some phrases he used in an interview with Andrew Marr which were clearly not his own, and which in turn suggested that he had read and adapted previous thoughts and research for his book with absolutely no reference to them). Also look at Michael Swan's review of this book, which points out its many weaknesses in a more detailed but refined way.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars English good! Content wanders 21 Feb 2011
By Jacques Dutronc
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I work for an international NGO where English is the lingua franca and leadership and communication are at the heart of what we do.

McCrum makes some interesting points and tells quite an interesting story about the British Empire.

But I couldn't help feeling that he was simply warming up the Globish concept which - as he admits - is someone else's idea.

Unsatisfying and over-hyped.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars gibberish 2 July 2010
By Chris Adams
Format:Hardcover
The emergence of English as the world's pre-eminent language for communication in business, politics and popular culture should be a fascinating subject, one well worth a detailed and thoughtful study. Mr McCrum instead gives us an energetically written journalistic travelogue, lightly researched and drawing on a very small number of interviews and visits.

Most of the book deals with the way English developed, starting with the Anglo-Saxon migration after the fall of Rome: this is a topic which has often been covered elsewhere, and with greater insight. It is in dealing with the last 60-odd years - essentially the period since the second world war - that the author seeks to break new(ish) ground. He charts the political, economic and cultural events that have led to English dominance, but gets little further than the obvious generalisation that people use language to make their way in the world, and adopt their language to be able to communicate with whoever is important to them. he often seems confused about whether he is describing the language or the cultural traits he believes it supports or makes possible.

And so much is missed on the way. For example, there is almost no description of how the variants of English work as languages. Many references are made to the French resistance to anglo-american cultural invasion, but little of other resistance movements closer to home, such as the forces imposition of Welsh on a largely anglophone population. And how did EU-speak English become so adept at incorporating the meaningless babble o American business consultants?

The book comes over as a fast moving screenshow of snapshots, like a display using one of the newish computer technologies. Some of the stories are interesting (like his assertion that the development of English in teh Indian Civil Service is an important stepping stone in the globalisation of English - but the composite lacks strength or real substance.

A disappointment
1 Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know

There's a problem loading this menu at the moment.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.

    Your Shopping Basket is empty.

    Give it purpose -- fill it with books, DVDs, clothes, electronics and more.

    If you already have an account, sign in.

    There's a problem previewing your shopping basket at the moment.

    Check your Internet connection and go to your cart, or try again.

    View Shopping Basket (0 items)

      Customer Discussions

      This product's forum
      Discussion Replies Latest Post
      No discussions yet

      Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
      Start a new discussion
      Topic:
      First post:
      Prompts for sign-in
       


      Active discussions in related forums
      Search Customer Discussions
      Search all Amazon discussions
         
      Related forums

      Listmania!

      Create a Listmania! list

      Look for similar items by category

      Feedback