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The Book of Books: The Radical Impact of the King James Bible 1611-2011

The Book of Books: The Radical Impact of the King James Bible 1611-2011

by Lord Melvyn Bragg (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2011

    $12.04
Synopsis

The Sunday Times bestseller written to commemorate over 400 years of the King James Bible.

The King James Bible has often been called the Book of Books both in itself and in what it stands for. Since its publication in 1611 it has been the best selling book in the world, and many believe, had the greatest impact.

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.

As THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH explored the history of our language, so THE BOOK OF BOOKS reveals the extraordinary and still-felt impact of a work created over 400 years ago.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 384
 Edition: First Edition
 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 07 Apr 2011
ISBN 10: 1444705156
ISBN 13: 9781444705157
Book Overview: 2011 was the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible

Media Reviews
'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'. * David Crystal, The New Statesman *
What gives this book its particular power, beyond Bragg's own reputation as a broadcaster, novelist and one of our foremost public intellectuals, is that he separates the importance of the King James Bible from the role of Christianity itself. Bragg tells the history of the King James with the vigour and pace of a storyteller rather than the dry precision of an academic. * Independent *
I am inclined to accept his final word: that the KJB's impact has been immeasurable and it is not over yet . * John Cornwell, Financial Times *
'Bragg takes a well known tale and tells it with easy eloquence'. * Scotland on Sunday *
'Vivid and accessible'. * Scotsman *
'As popular history, this is great stuff'. * Scotsman *
Bragg is 'our most trusted intellectual interpreter'. * David Sexton, Evening Standard *
'We are in Melvyn Bragg's debt for presenting us with an echo-chamber of sounds from the world's most long-lasting English book, in an eventful and deeply personal journey through four centuries of history'. * Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years *
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. His turn of phrase is dramatic. Bragg's prose reverberates with scriptural certainty. Mostly this is an affectionate book. * Henry Hitchings, Observer *
'Naturally Bragg pays eloquent homage to the literary grandeur of the scriptures that shaped his own outlook. But this heartfelt and far-reaching tribute makes its special mark in tracing the links between the KJB and the revolutions in science, politics and society'. * Independent *
It is difficult to see how this book could be bettered; Bragg's narrative is sweeping, his prose dramatic, his enthusiasm infectious. * Independent on Sunday *
Author Bio
Melvyn Bragg is a writer and broadcaster. His novels include The Hired Man, for which he won the Time/Life Silver Pen Award, Without a City Wall, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, The Soldier's Return, winner of the WHSmith Literary Award, A Son of War and Crossing the Lines, both of which were longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, A Place in England, which was longlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize, and most recently Grace and Mary. He has also written several works of non-fiction, including The Book of Books about the King James Bible. He lives in London and Cumbria.