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David Crystal
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The Stories of English Kindle Edition

by David Crystal (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 312 ratings
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When and why did 'thou' disappear from Standard English? Would a Victorian Cockney have said 'observation' or 'hobservation'? Was Jane Austen making a mistake when she wrote 'Jenny and James are walked to Charmonth this afternoon'?

This superbly well-informed - and also wonderfully entertaining - history of the English language answers all these questions, showing how the many strands of English (Standard English, dialect and slang among them) developed to create the richly-varied language of today.

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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0141015934
  2. Publisher
    Penguin
  3. Publication date
    5 May 2005
  4. Language
    English
  5. File size
    3729 KB
  6. See all details
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Product description

Review

"This new history of the English language in all its manifestations is among the best ever written, and is both entertaining and informative."

About the Author

David Crystal is honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor, and the editor of The Penguin Encyclopedia.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002RI9GWQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin (5 May 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3729 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 730 pages
  • Customer reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 312 ratings

About the author

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David Crystal

David Crystal

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David Crystal is honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has written or edited over 100 books and published numerous articles for scholarly, professional, and general readerships, in fields ranging from forensic linguistics and ELT to the liturgy and Shakespeare. His many books include Words, Words, Words (OUP 2006) and The Fight for English (OUP 2006).

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
312 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well-written and easy to read. They find the content informative and useful for studying linguistics. The book keeps their interest and makes them want to learn more about language evolution.

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ReadabilityInformative
38 customers mention ‘Readability’35 positive3 negative

Customers find the book accessible and well-written. They say it provides a balanced view of the linguistic content, dealing with real English and its rich diversity. Readers appreciate the journey through the development of the English language, scything down myths and idiocies. The book is useful for researching linguistics and the history of the English.

"...Crystal knows his topic and writes well; masses of information crammed chronoligically into 500 pages printed in a very small font size; punctuated..." Read more

"...Crystal deals with real English, too, the living language as she is spoke, not the prescriptive textbooky nonsense of those who would like to pickle..." Read more

"...because while Crystal's style is tough going at times his writing is insightful and informative as he traces the history of the English language in..." Read more

"...By-and-large the book is an easy read, and I recommend it to anybody who has any interest in the English language...." Read more

18 customers mention ‘Informative’18 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and helpful for linguistics research. It provides an interesting account of how the English language has evolved over time. The content is described as engaging, erudite, and stimulating, with wonderful examples and explanations. Readers describe it as the ultimate book on the history and evolution of the English language.

"...It is both erudite and entertaining, covering the chronological story from its Celtic beginnings, through linguistic invasions (eg Norman French) to..." Read more

"...'s style is tough going at times his writing is insightful and informative as he traces the history of the English language in all its forms from..." Read more

"...I read this but I do remember finding it very absorbing and indeed revelatory, which surprised me a bit because the evolution of language is..." Read more

"...journey through the development of the English language, scything down myths and idiocies, and full of odd detail." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Mr John Fisher
    5.0 out of 5 stars Split infinitives, misrelated particles, non-sequitors - I'm guilty!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 March 2021
    Verified Purchase
    An engrossing book on the English language. Crystal knows his topic and writes well; masses of information crammed chronoligically into 500 pages printed in a very small font size; punctuated with insets and interludes more characteristic of maps. Ninety-five percent of the book was thoroughly absorbing. At first the subject matter seemed a challenge and intended as the preserve of the erudite. Not so - it is very readable. Reading this book I became aware that I - and everyone else - use two forms of language: spoken and written. Spoken is instinctive and environmental and incompatible with the written form, which is more thoughtful, reflective, amended and agonised.
    The bit I didnt get was the "socio-babble" of "prescriptivism". Educated in the 50's and 60's at a multitude of schools in Cyprus, Norfolk, Surrey, Northumberland and the Isle of Man I do not recall ever being conscious of any attempt to crush the life out of regional versions of English. In fact my "Surrey" English was at odds with my peers in Northumberland, where I would say "A' divin' na" to them but "I don't know" to my parents at home. Assimiliation is the key driver of communication. The forces of "prescriptivism" can only have held sway for a brief period after the introduction of education for all; even then I doubt it's influence would have been in any way all-pervasive.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Misskin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Full of great revelations about the English language
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 August 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I have to confess, up front, that I'm a linguist by profession and therefore fascinated by the way languages work. But having learnt English the natural way - growing up with it - I've always felt I had less of a grasp on its history and its workings than I do for other modern languages that I was taught formally as a student and therefore been forced to grapple with. So for me, David Crystal's book is a delight and a revelation; page after page of wonderful examples and explanations which unfold the mysteries of English and explain its quirks and riches and complexities. It is both erudite and entertaining, covering the chronological story from its Celtic beginnings, through linguistic invasions (eg Norman French) to its modern-day reach and variety. Crystal deals with real English, too, the living language as she is spoke, not the prescriptive textbooky nonsense of those who would like to pickle the tongue in aspic. As Crystal himself says "it is a patchwork quilt of a book" and all the more colourful for it. Thoroughly recommended.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Mandrek Larl
    4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended but only if you have more than just a passing interest in the English language ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 April 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I have long had an interest in the origins and development of the English language: vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, and David Crystal's "The Stories of English" was the recommended reading following a day-course I attended at the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education a year or so ago; and having just finished it I have to say that Professor Crystal has written a good book, but then a man whose specialist subject is the English language and who has more than ninety, yes ninety, published books probably should be able to knock out a good'un.

    But at over five hundred pages of very small text [other reviewers have commented on the difficulty of reading the print version and I have to admit I found my eyes straining] Crystal's book is daunting, hence the delay in starting it; and [caveat emptor] it isn't a light-hearted east to read witty Bill Byson type of book. But it's worth persevering because while Crystal's style is tough going at times his writing is insightful and informative as he traces the history of the English language in all its forms from its earliest origins to his thoughts on the new directions the written and spoken language would be taking in the cyber-enabled world of the twenty-first century [not sure I wholly agree but Crystal was writing 20 years ago and a lot has happened since then].

    So highly recommended if you have more than just a passing interest in the history of the English, otherwise stick with Bryson.
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  • Cheerful Dragon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 September 2012
    Verified Purchase
    This is a review of the Kindle edition. I bought this because it was 'recommended reading' for an Open University module that I'm studying. The subject matter, English in all its wonderful varieties, is well-presented. By-and-large the book is an easy read, and I recommend it to anybody who has any interest in the English language. One 'but' is the 'panels' that crop up in each chapter. These are digressions to examine some aspect more closely. These panels are clearly marked but often poorly sited. They can split a paragraph, or even split a sentence! This can affect the flow of your reading. (Well, it affected the flow of my reading, from time to time.) Another issue is missing spaces between words or after punctuation. I've reported quite a few, but gave up because there are so many of them. A final issue is that the page numbers in the Kindle version don't match the page numbers in the text, which I assume are from the print version. This isn't a problem for a casual reader, but it's something to keep in mind if you want to quote from the Kindle version in an essay.

    Being severely short-sighted, I agree with vikki650 that the text size on the Kindle makes this book easy on the eyes. I would recommend the Kindle version over the print version, notwithstanding the issues mentioned, purely because it's easier to read.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Thomas Gray
    5.0 out of 5 stars If you know the work of David Crystal you can can rely on the content.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2025
    Verified Purchase
    You could not dislike anything in the book. Very informative very interesting.
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  • Gabby Steelman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good read for linguist nerds
    Reviewed in the United States on 12 November 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I got this book as a requirement for my college history of English course. I’m already an enjoyer of English literature and history, but not to the degree where the origin of our English syntax or what a ‘glottal-stop’ is, so I did buy this book with the intention of being bored to death. Funny enough though is I actually enjoyed most of what it had to offer.
    Crystal’s writing is direct and though aims to inform, still adds a bit of humor and actually makes learning about something so lengthy and dull entertaining. It’s also helpful that Crystal avoids using clunky and confusing technical terms other language books insist on, which made this an easier read than most other language books out there! Of course I wasn’t super enthralled when he was discussing things like the progression of dialect and such, but his writing made it easy to understand and get through well enough. I rate this really highly because of that aspect as well, I think a novice could pick this book up and be able to understand it very well with how simply put yet well articulated. An interesting read for a subject most find boring :)
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  • ben
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant book !
    Reviewed in France on 16 August 2021
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    Excellent ouvrage, très précis et très complet. Je cherchais de quoi nourrir mes cours sur l'histoire de la langue anglaise : j'ai trouvé ! La bibliographie est très riche également, ce qui permet d'approfondir les différents chapitres. To all English lovers, I highly recommend you buy this book.
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  • Mukesh Kumar Singh
    5.0 out of 5 stars Hats off to David Crystal!
    Reviewed in India on 16 December 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This book has lots of linguistic information of English language.
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  • von Spens
    5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book
    Reviewed in Germany on 26 July 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Another wonderfully insightful book by David Crystal. It brings many details of the history of the English language together. A very good read and enjoyable.
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  • Dom
    5.0 out of 5 stars As always, David Crystal excels at telling the story ( or stories) of English
    Reviewed in Canada on 22 April 2014
    Verified Purchase
    As a future historical linguist who wants to specialize in the history of th English language, I have enjoyed reading what I did until now and will go on as soon as my reading list decreases.

    Furthermore, it has been written by David Crystal who is a well-known expert on the topic as well as being a world-renowned linguist. What I find to be interesting is that Mr. Crystal brings a new, fresh perspective of the history of the language by adding "interludes" in his book, each of which explains a different story which have helped English become the language it is today, such as the Celt language, spoken in England before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. I find it very interesting to know. Indeed, he writes very well.

    I think I will recommend this book to anyone who is interested in responding himself to this question: "From where does my language come?"

    Dom
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