David Crystal: 36 books
Spell It Out
The Curious, Enthralling and Extraordinary Story of English Spelling
Language: English
Release Date: June 18, 2013
The fascinating and surprising history of English spelling from David Crystal, everyone's favorite expert logophile
With The Story of English in 100 Words, David Crystal took us on a tour through the history of our language. Now, with Spell It Out, he takes on the task of answering all the...
Just A Phrase I'm Going Through
My Life in Language
Language: English
Release Date: June 2, 2009
Kidnapping, attempted assassination, espionage … not the answers you’d expect to the question ‘what happens when you become a linguist?’
But now, reflecting on a long and hugely successful career at the forefront of the field of English Language and Linguistics, David Crystal answers...
Making a Point
The Persnickety Story of English Punctuation
Language: English
Release Date: October 6, 2015
The triumphant concluding volume in David Crystal's classic trilogy on the English language combines the first history of English punctuation with a complete guide on how to use it. Behind every punctuation mark lies a thousand stories. The punctuation of English, marked with occasional rationality,...
by David Crystal
Language: English
Release Date: July 10, 2014
Language: English
Release Date: July 10, 2014
David Crystal, one of the world’s leading commentators on language, tackles the proverbs of the world. In this anthology of global proverbs Crystal brings his customary keen eye and linguistic expertise to this wonderfully rich topic. Proverbs are fascinating in what they tell us about a culture's...
by David Crystal
Language: English
Release Date: June 1, 2010
Language: English
Release Date: June 1, 2010
With a language disappearing every two weeks and neologisms springing up almost daily, an understanding of the origins and currency of language has never seemed more relevant. In this charming volume, a narrative history written explicitly for a young audience, expert linguist David Crystal proves...
by David Crystal
Language: English
Release Date: September 6, 2005
Language: English
Release Date: September 6, 2005
The English language is now accepted as the global lingua franca of the modern age, spoken or written in by over a quarter of the human race. But how did it evolve? How did a language spoken originally by a few thousand Anglo-Saxons become one used by more than 1,500 million? What developments can...
Sounds Appealing
The Passionate Story of English Pronunciation
Language: English
Release Date: December 14, 2017
It's not what you say, it's the way that you say it ...
There have long been debates about 'correct' pronunciation in the English language, and Britain's most distinguished linguistic expert, David Crystal, is here to set the record straight. Sounds Appealing tells us exactly why, and how,...
The Fight for English:How language pundits ate, shot, and left
How language pundits ate, shot, and left
Language: English
Release Date: September 7, 2006
Lynne Truss's 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' injected new life into the long-standing arguments over rights and wrongs in English usage. Now David Crystal brings together his own distinctive style and unique expertise to provide the first thorough-going assessment of the ongoing debate. With a lively,...
Making Sense
The Glamorous Story of English Grammar
Language: English
Release Date: May 4, 2017
In Making Sense, David Crystal confronts the foe of many: grammar. Once taught relentlessly to all students in the English-speaking world, grammar disappeared from most school curricula, so that terms such as "preposition" and "conjunction" now often confound children and adults alike. Explaining...
Wordsmiths and Warriors
The English-Language Tourist's Guide to Britain
Language: English
Release Date: September 26, 2013
Wordsmiths and Warriors explores the heritage of English through the places in Britain that shaped it. It unites the warriors, whose invasions transformed the language, with the poets, scholars, reformers, and others who helped create its character. The book relates a real journey. David and Hilary...
The Gift of the Gab
How Eloquence Works
Language: English
Release Date: May 17, 2016
We all know eloquence when we hear it. But what exactly is it? And how might we gain more of it for ourselves? This entertaining and, yes, eloquent book illuminates the power of language from a linguistic point of view and provides fascinating insights into the way we use words. David Crystal, a world-renowned...
by David Crystal, St Martins Press
Language: English
Release Date: October 13, 2011
Language: English
Release Date: October 13, 2011
In this unique new history of the world's most ubiquitous language, linguistics expert David Crystal draws on words that best illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences and events that have helped to shape our vernacular since the first definitively English word was written down in the fifth...
How Language Works
How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Live or Die
Language: English
Release Date: November 1, 2007
Steven Pinker meets Bill Bryson in this landmark exploration of language.
In the author's own words, "How Language Works is not about music, cookery, or sex. But it is about how we talk about music, cookery, and sex-or, indeed, anything at all." Language is so fundamental to everyday...
Internet Linguistics
A Student Guide
Language: English
Release Date: January 28, 2011
The Internet is now an integral part of contemporary life, and linguists are increasingly studying its influence on language. In this student-friendly guidebook, leading language authority Professor David Crystal follows on from his landmark bestseller Language and the Internet and presents the area...