Bøker av Simon Heffer

The English language has evolved throughout its history, and usually for good reasons. However, in recent years, egged on by social media and the ubiquity and velocity of the internet, it has been subject to some grave assaults. There appear no longer to be any rules, in an era when, thanks to the web (another word to have changed its meaning) everyone can be a published author, completely unedited and unregulated. This often has dire consequences for the English tongue. Simon Heffer's A to Z runs though a whole litany of common confusions ('flaunt' and 'flout', 'imply' and 'infer', 'uninterested' and 'disinterested'), unidiomatic English ('fed up of', 'focus around', the use of 'impacted' in such construction as 'the loss impacted him badly'), and lazy expressions (these days every extended activity is an '-athon', every scandal is a 'Something-gate'). It bemoans some truly awful neologisms, 'infotainment' and 'funwashing' among them. And it registers the horror of those of us who do not believe that you can answer the question 'How are you?' with the words 'I'm good'. Trenchant and sprinkled with dry wit, Scarcely English is both a chamber of horrors of bad and lazy English and a plea for accuracy, clear thinking and elegance.

'An epic new history . . . a work of epic scholarship, breathtaking range, and piercing originality' Daily Express'An astonishing achievement of narrative history . . . I think the word is "magisterial".' Spectator'Excellent, thorough, detailed and combatively argued.' Sunday Times______________________________________Sing As We Go is an astonishingly ambitious overview of the political, social and cultural history of the country from 1919 to 1939.It explores and explains the politics of the period, and puts such moments of national turmoil as the General Strike of 1926 and the Abdication Crisis of 1936 under the microscope. It offers pen portraits of the era's most significant figures. It traces the changing face of Britain as cars made their first mass appearance, the suburbs sprawled, and radio and cinema became the means of mass entertainment. And it probes the deep divisions that split the nation: between the haves and have-nots, between warring ideological factions, and between those who promoted accommodation with fascism in Europe and those who bitterly opposed it.__________________________________________'Magisterial . . . an extraordinary achievement.' Literary Review'A masterful portrayal of political, social and cultural upheaval between the wars.' Daily Mail

Masterly.' - CHARLES VYVYAN, STANDPOINT 'Fascinating stuff.' - SPECTATOR 'Possibly the finest, most comprehensive analysis of the home front in the Great War ever produced.' - LITERARY REVIEW 'Every bit as good as its two predecessors.

What is the difference between amend and emend, between imply and infer, and between uninterested and disinterested? When should one put owing to rather than due to? Why should the temptation to write actually, basically or at this moment in time always be strenuously resisted? This title deals with these questions.

Britain in the 1840s was a country wracked by poverty, unrest and uncertainty, where there were attempts to assassinate the Queen and her prime minister, and the ruling class lived in fear of riot and revolution. This book offers an exploration of the making of the Victorian age and the Victorian mind.

This is a tweedy purveyor of folklore; too many larks ascending and too much. "e;Linden Lea"e;: no composer's work has ever been more cruelly stereotyped than that of Ralph Vaughan Williams. The truth could hardly have been more different: that folksy feel masked the highest sophistication, that countrified air the most audacious experimentation. If, unlike his Germanizing contemporary Elgar, Vaughan Williams did indeed open the way to a distinctively English Music, his was an Englishness which owed nothing to narrow-mindedness or lack of artistic enterprise. Fifty years after his death in 1958, Vaughan Williams' reputation is greater than ever before and there is a resurgence of interest in his music. Re-issued to coincide with this anniversary, Simon Heffer's perceptive book lends weight to the increasingly compelling case for Vaughan Williams' recognition as the most important English composer of the twentieth century. "e;A vivid and appealing picture of an irresistibly likeable figure...I enjoyed this little book enormously"e;. ("e;Spectator"e;). "e;An affectionate, accurate and shrewd account of Vaughan Williams' life ...the author's astute commentary on it betokens close and knowledgeable acquaintance"e;. ("e;Sunday Telegraph"e;).

Taking a panoramic view from the days of Thucydides up to the present, Heffer analyses the motive forces behind the pursuit of power, and, explains in a beautiful argument why history is destined to repeat itself.

Makes an impassioned case for an end to the sloppiness that has become such a hallmark of everyday speech and writing. This title shows how accuracy and clarity are within the grasp of anyone who is prepared to take the time to master a few simple rules.

A stirring anthology of speeches from every period of British history.