The Book of Books: The Radical Impact of the King James Bible 1611-2011
Melvyn Bragg
The Book of Books: The Radical Impact of the King James Bible 1611-2011
The King James Bible has spread the Protestant faith. It has also been the greatest influence on the enrichment of the English language and its literature. It has been the Bible of wars from the British Civil War in the seventeenth century to the American Civil War two centuries later and it has been carried into battle in innumerable conflicts since then. Its influence on social movements - particularly involving women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - and politics was profound. It was crucial to the growth of democracy. It was integral to the abolition of slavery and it defined attitudes to modern science, education and sex. Here Melvyn Bragg reveals the extraordinary impact of a work created 400 years ago.
3.2 out of 5 based on 5 reviews
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Omniscore:
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| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
History, Religion & Spirituality |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
384 |
| RRP |
£20.00 |
| Date of Publication |
April 2011 |
| ISBN |
978-1444705157 |
| Publisher |
Hodder & Stoughton |
| |
The King James Bible has spread the Protestant faith. It has also been the greatest influence on the enrichment of the English language and its literature. It has been the Bible of wars from the British Civil War in the seventeenth century to the American Civil War two centuries later and it has been carried into battle in innumerable conflicts since then. Its influence on social movements - particularly involving women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - and politics was profound. It was crucial to the growth of democracy. It was integral to the abolition of slavery and it defined attitudes to modern science, education and sex. Here Melvyn Bragg reveals the extraordinary impact of a work created 400 years ago.
Reviews
The New Statesman
David Crystal
“... I'm happy to turn a blind eye to the occasional linguistic infelicity in the interests of seeing the wider picture. Which is what we get. Bragg's strengths as a novelist yield an account that is personal and imaginative, full of excitement and energy ... I have never read an account of the Bible quite so compelling.”
07/04/2011
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The Observer
Henry Hitchings
“… Bragg's tribute is of value because he has an aptitude for storytelling. He is breezily readable where other studies can feel dense and recondite.”
17/04/2011
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The Scotsman
Stuart Kelly
“The strength of Bragg's book, and its weakness, is that it is like a much extended version of his Radio 4 programme In Our Time, with Bragg free to range over almost every conceivable topic. What it lacks in rigour or new argument it amply makes up for in genial generalism.”
05/04/2011
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The Sunday Times
James McConnachie
“It is the Bible itself, and the Protestant interpretation of it, that has had the “radical impact” on English and American history. Yes, this one translation has left its mark all over our minds and tongues (but then, as we know, most of the words are owed to Tyndale). Historically, however, it has been incidental.”
17/04/2011
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The Spectator
Philip Hensher
“A little less ‘enthusiasm’, in the 18th-century sense, and a little more detail, would have done his subject justice.”
09/04/2011
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