Mario Pei: The Story of the English Language

Sterling North, writing about the original edition of The Story of English, described it as "one of the richest and most vibrant studies of the English language ever published." The New York Times Book Review called it "an engrossing narrative, a clear, interesting account of the development of a great language, from small tribal Anglo-Saxon to large cosmopolitan English." For this new edition the author has made revisions that affect at least 40 per cent of the material, with copious additions covering the fifteen years that have elapsed since the book's first publication. Dr. Pei discusses changes in attitude about language and usage, lists a wealth of new words and forms that have appeared, and includes a new and particularly interesting chapter, "The Ameri-can Language." He writes about the uses and abuses of English, the language as a speaking
and writing tool, and the present trend in usage, as the English tongue spreads to the far corners of the earth and is more and more widely used as an official or semi-official tongue in emerging nations that once were colonial possessions. The Story of the English Language is an exciting and rewarding book.