Mother Tongue : English and How It Got That Way

"Complex and maddeningly illogical though it is, English is spoken by more than 300 million people around the world...Its story has been told before, but seldom as deftly or as memorably...An enthralling excursion...A motherlode of delectable trivia."

--Burt Hochburg, The New York Times Book Review

"Diverting and richly anecdotal...Bryson is an unalloyed fan who relishes the language's versatility, verb hoard and vast vocabulary."

--Robert Taylor, Boston Globe

"Vastly informative and vastly entertaining...A scholarly and fascinating book."

--Fred S. Holley, Los Angeles Times

Harper Collins Web Site, February, 2001

Clever, insightful, often hilarious, The Mother Tongue is an engaging jaunt through the quirks and byways of the world's most important -- and baffling -- of languages. Readers will learn why island, freight, and colonel are spelled in such unphonetic ways; why four has a u in it but forty does not; why Noah Webster was a liar, a cheat, and a plagiarist; and other fascinating facts about our mother tongue.