AuthorBill Bryson
NarratorBill Bryson
Duration2h 45m
CategoriesAdult Non-Fiction, History, Music and the Arts
Key StageA Level
PublisherChivers
VersionUnabridged
BILL BRYSON presents a fascinating exploration of THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. This highly entertaining BBC Radio 4 series is written and presented by Bill Bryson and based on his bestselling book, Mother Tongue. In it he romps through the history of Britain to reveal how English became such an infuriatingly complex - but ultimately world-beating - language. But why English? Why don't we speak Gallic, or any other of the European languages? According to Bryson, it's down to the remarkable ability for the English language to assimilate other vocabularies, to adapt and - above all - to survive. From the old English words that are still in everyday use, such as `eat', `drink', `man' and `wife', to the current hybrid language of the 21st century with its many diverse dialects, Bryson, in his unique and ever-affable style, guides us through the development of English into a rich and expressive language. Bryson explains how English has been shaped through invasion and conquest, as well as the rules that brought order to a disorderly language, the million and one ways to have fun with the English language, and the struggle with phrasal verbs (including the way things often get lost in the translation). And finally, he contemplates the future of English. Does Estuary English really Rule OK?
Author: Daniel Levitin
Author Daniel Levitin
Narrator Daniel Levitin
Duration 11h 46m
Brought to you by Penguin. Using musical examples from Bach to the Beatles, Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience. Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature, even more fundamental to our spec...
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Author: Uwe Schutte
Author Uwe Schutte
Narrator Sam Peter Jackson
Duration 6h 14m
Brought to you by Penguin. The story of the phenomenon that is Kraftwerk, and how they revolutionised our cultural landscape 'We are not artists nor musicians. We are workers.' Ignoring nearly all rock traditions, experimenting in near-total secrecy in their Dsseldorf studio, Kraftwerk fused sound and technology, graphic design and performance, mo...
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Author: Bill Bryson
Author Bill Bryson
Narrator William Roberts
Duration 10h 30m
Bill Bryson drove 14,000 miles in search of the mythical small town of his youth. Instead he found a lookalike strip of gas stations, motels and hamburger joints; a continent lost to itself through greed, pollution and television, and lost to him because he had become a foreigner in his own country. A funny and analytical view of smalltown America.
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Author: Min Kym
Author Min Kym
Narrator Rebecca Yeo
Duration 8h 10m
Penguin presents the complete unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Gone by Min Kym, read by Rebecca Yeo. 'The hours fell away as I read this spellbinding tale of love, loss, and above all devotion to art. You probably don't know what it feels like to be a child prodigy or a world class violinist, but you will after reading this luminous me...
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Author: Bill Bryson
Author Bill Bryson
Narrator William Roberts
Duration 9h 31m
After nearly two decades in England, Bill Bryson returned to live in the country he had left as a youth. Of course there were things that Bryson missed about Blighty, but any sense of loss was countered by the joy of rediscovering some of the forgotten treasures of his childhood. Gathered here are 18 months' worth of musings about the strangest of...
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Summary of Grant By Ron Chernow
Author: Abbey Beathan
Author Abbey Beathan
Narrator Peter Prova
Duration 2h 55m
Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. The life and work of the magnificent general and President Ulysses Grant. Ulysses Grant must be one of the most misunderstood characters of United States' history. The majority of people have a polarized but incorrect impression of him as a loser and a bad businessman or as the triumphant but vicious gener...
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The Road To Little Dribbling: More Notes From A Small Island
Author: Bill Bryson
Author Bill Bryson
Narrator Nathan Osgood
Duration 13h 30m
Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country. The hilarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, was taken to the nation's heart and became the bestselling travel book ever, and was also voted in a BBC poll the book that best represents Britain.Now...
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Author: Blake Snyder
Author Blake Snyder
Narrator George Newbern
Duration 5h 25m
Here's what started the phenomenon: the bestseller, for over fifteen years, that's been used by screenwriters around the world! Blake Snyder tells all in this fast, funny, and candid look inside the movie business. Save the Cat is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying, others include t...
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Author: Andrew Ridgeley
Author Andrew Ridgeley
Narrator Andrew Ridgeley
Duration 5h 59m
For the first time, Andrew Ridgeley - one half of one of the most famous bands in the world - tells the inside story of Wham! and his life-long friendship with George Michael. It is 1975, Watford, and two teenagers, George and Andrew, meet for the first time. Bonding over their love for singing, song writing and pop music, together they set out to...
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Author: Debbie Harry
Author Debbie Harry
Narrator Clem Burke
Duration 8h 53m
Debbie Harry is a musician, actor, activist and the iconic face of New York City cool. As the front-woman of Blondie, she and the band forged a new sound that brought together the worlds of rock, punk, disco, reggae and hip-hop to create some of the most beloved pop songs of all time. With all the grit, grime, and glory recounted in intimate detail...
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