Language   Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style Benjamin Dreyer     ‘Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neithe...

Language Mother Tongue Bill Bryson                 History of a language i.e. chronicle of its growth and its inherent failings and merits, will make a dreary essay in the hands of most authors. But not when written by Bill Bryson who has a penchant for converting most mundane topics under the sun into a funny, highly readable story and this time he turns his gaze on English Language.                 He meticulously chronicles the growth of the language, origin of the devious pronunciation and spellings, vagaries of its apparently unreasonable grammar, varied dialects of English and their origin and much more in his characteristic irreverent humour but without being facile. He explains the differences between American and British English, emphasises on their likeness and touches on the controversies which surround them. He e...