Dwight Garner
…smart but casual, more gastropub than white-linen dining; the author seems to have written it with his left hand. It revisits material from The Story of English (1986), which Mr. McCrum wrote with William Cran and Robert MacNeil. Some of this new book is likely to seem dated before too long, but part of the point of Globish is that English mutates and spreads as quickly as those zombies in the movie "28 Days Later" sprint down a freeway.
—The New York Times
Jonathan Yardley
The history of English is inherently fascinating, and McCrum tells the story well.
—The Washington Post
Kirkus Reviews
The Observer associate editor McCrum (My Year Off: Rediscovering Life After a Stroke, 2008, etc.) rehearses the history of the English language, from Britannia to Bollywood, focusing on how it has transformed from one island's language to "Globish," a version of the language used by billions worldwide. The author, who co-wrote the book and subsequent TV series The Story of English (both in 1986), begins with a definition of Globish, then moves through English, American and world history at a breathtaking pace, pausing only occasionally to elaborate on publications and people he identifies as key to the eventual hegemony of English. Among the former are the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, both of which influenced centuries of speakers and writers. The author looks at Gutenberg and Caxton, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and of course Shakespeare, "a master of artistic synthesis." McCrum then focuses on the New World, providing accolades for Thomas Paine, Noah Webster, Abraham Lincoln-whose Gettysburg Address the author greatly admires-and Mark Twain, whom the author characterizes as a "founding father of the world's English" because of his recognition of the power of common speech. The author also examines English and the slave trade, noting that captains on the Middle Passage separated slaves who spoke the same language, making English a pressing necessity for them to learn. McCrum covers Dr. Johnson, Dickens, the rise of the British Empire and the spread of English into India, Australia, Africa and elsewhere, spending more time on Winston Churchill and his rhetoric than on any other individual. After the Cold War, it's Americanization, the Internet, EuroDisney, ThomasFriedman's flat world and the astonishing datum that there are 175,000 new blogs per day. McCrum ends with extensive looks at modern China and India, where billions are learning English/Globish as a way to improve their economic potential. Still, he cautions, the world has 5,000 individual languages. Heavy on historical summary yet gripping and profoundly informative.
Malcolm Gladwell
Robert McCrum argues, brilliantly and provocatively, that England’s greatest contribution to the world is English. The empire may be gone. But Globish explains why the language still rules.”
From the Publisher
"An overall effective work.... This book successfully appeals to language lovers and history buffs alike." ---Library Journal
