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The Adventure of English
- The Biography of a Language
- Narrated by: Robert Powell
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
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The Adventure of English
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 440
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 150
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 131
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Publisher's Summary
This is the remarkable story of the English language; from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language.
The Adventure of English is not only an enthralling story of power, religion, and trade, but also the story of people, and how their lives continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.
Critic Reviews
"Both entertaining and informative." (Booklist)
"This 'biography' succeeds in its broad, sweeping narrative." (Publishers Weekly)
What listeners say about The Adventure of English
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Marita
- 06-05-2019
A must read if you're interested in the language.
I learned quite a bit from this one. Not a difficult book to read. Gives you a good understanding of what has gone into making the language we have today. I'll treasure it all the more now that I understand what it's been through.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- KiwiInOz
- 10-09-2020
Informative and well written
I loved the book and even had the DVD of the TV series. Really enjoyed listening to this book while doing my COVID walks each day.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 14-02-2015
incredible story
This is an amazing account of the story of my language. I recommend this to everyone
who has the ability to think.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Linda Marion
- 23-04-2016
Masterful eloquent and immensely entertaining.
Everyone who speaks English must find their place in Bragg's Adventure. The breadth and scope of this journey spanning over 1700 years is breath-taking.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 02-09-2019
an excellent history
it is fascinating to hear how the language has grown from the earliest time. I say hear because if I read it, I would be unable to pronounce it. However I have one correction that I do know, in the Australian section, the reader speaks of the Macquarie Dictionary - an interesting volume, and pronounces it MAC-COR-RIE, we have never said that. It is said MAC-CWO - REE that is for the person the river, the area and the book.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jane
- 23-08-2019
Very interesting
Loved this book and the history of the English language and how some words came about. Not something I would normally listen to but really liked it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Readalot
- 25-02-2017
A Wonderful Adenture
If you could sum up The Adventure of English in three words, what would they be?
History, Culture, Fun
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Adventure of English?
The whole thing
What does Robert Powell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
He has a lovely reading voice so it was a pleasure to listen.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No, but I smiled a lot.
Any additional comments?
A fascinating study for anyone interested in the English language in all its maddening contradiction and supreme flexibility.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-04-2020
illuminating and entertaining
Exceptionally well presented.
Can't imagin how one could get as much out of the book as text as the pronunciations and accents are essential to the understanding.
Shame the technical Chaptering is s total fail ... but thats another thing.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ed
- 30-10-2019
Great story with fantastic narrator
Great history lesson from the perspective of language, I really enjoyed this book interestingly enough. The narrator was fantastic and his examples of how the different accents and dialects sound were incredible! Something you miss out on if you read the book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Howling Fantods
- 15-09-2019
Interesting and amazingly performed
Worth it if you are interested in the topic, primarily because of the evocative reading
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