Wordsmiths and Warriors

Who formed and shaped the English language? David and Hilary Crystal take us on a journey through Britain to discover the people who gave our language its colour and character; Saxon invaders, medieval scholars, poets, reformers, dictionary writers. Part travelogue, part history, this beautifully illustrated book is full of unexpected delights.

David Crystal is known throughout the world as a writer, editor, lecturer and broadcaster on language. He has published extensively on the history and development of English, including The Stories of English (2004), Evolving English (2010), Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language (2010), The Story of English in 100 Words (2011), and Spell It Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling (2012).
Hilary Crystal trained as a speech therapist, worked for a while in clinical linguistic research, then became a sub-editor for the various volumes in the Cambridge and Penguin families of encyclopedias. She has designed several books, notably the anthologies of the poetry of John Bradburne edited by David.

1: Pegwell Bay: arrival
2: Caistor St Edmund: the earliest known English word
3: Undley Common: the first recorded English sentence
4: Jarrow: Bede and the origins of English
5: Lindisfarne: glossaries and translations
6: Ruthwell: the finest runic inscription
7: Stourton and Edington: King Alfred and the birth of English
8: Maldon: the ultimate warrior wordsmith
9: Winchester: the first standard English
10: Cerne Abbas: Ælfric and the first English conversation
11: Ely: Wulfstan and Old English style
12: Peterborough: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
13: Battle and Normans Bay: the French connection
14: Bourne: Orrm and English spelling
15: Areley Kings: Layamon's English Chronicle
16: Chester and Berkeley: Higden, Trevisa, and the rise of English
17: Rhuddlan: the English language in Wales
18: Manorbier: little England beyond Wales
19: Dunfermline: the birth of Scots English
20: Talbot Yard, London SE1: Chaucer and Middle English
21: Canterbury: from ancient to modern
22: Cursitor Street, London EC4: Chancery and standard English
23: Tothill Street, London SW1: Caxton and printing English
24: St Albans: Juliana Berners and collective nouns
25: Paston: a family of letters
26: Lutterworth: John Wycliffe and Bible translation
27: North Nibley: William Tyndale and the English Bible
28: Chichester: William Bullokar and the first English grammar
29: Suffolk Lane and St Paul's, London EC4: Richard Mulcaster and the status of English
30: Stratford-upon-Avon: Shakespeare and English idiom
31: Park Street, London SE1: Shakespeare and linguistic innovation
32: Oakham: Robert Cawdrey and the first dictionary
33: Willoughby: John Smith and new Englishes
34: East India Dock, London E14: the East India Company and global English
35: Hampton Court Palace: King James and his Bible
36: Black Notley: John Ray and English proverbs
37: Aldwincle: John Dryden and an English Academy
38: Old Broad Street, London EC2: the Royal Society and scientific English
39: Rochdale: Tim Bobbin and local dialect
40: Lichfield: Johnson and the dictionary
41: Old St Pancras Church, London NW1: John Walker and pronunciation
42: York: Lindley Murray and English grammar
43: Alloway: Robert Burns and Scots
44: Peebles and Edinburgh: the Chambers brothers and encyclopedic English
45: Grasmere: William Wordsworth and poetic language
46: West Malvern: Roget and the thesaurus
47: Bath: Isaac Pitman and English shorthand
48: Oxford: James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary
49: Winterborne Came: William Barnes and speech-craft
50: Higher Bockhampton: Thomas Hardy and Wessex dialect
51: Saltaire: Joseph Wright and English dialects
52: Hinton St George: Henry Fowler and English usage
53: Ayot St Lawrence: George Bernard Shaw and spelling reform
54: Laugharne: Dylan Thomas and Welsh English
55: Tilbury: the Empire Windrush and new dialects
56: University College, London WC1: Daniel Jones and English phonetics
57: University College, London WC1: the Survey of English Usage
Regional Grouping
Index of Places
General Index