This essential new text provides a comprehensive, modern account of how the English language originated, developed, changed, and continues to morph into new forms in contemporary society.

What does it mean to have an emotional response to poetry and music? And, just as important but considered less often, what does it mean not to have such a…

Presents a history of the English language from the age of Beowulf to the rap of Eminem. The author describes the differences between English and American usage and, the link…

Composed while its author was imprisoned, this book remains one of Western literature’s most eloquent meditations on the transitory nature of earthly belongings, and the superiority of things of the…