Alphabetical
How Every Letter Tells a Story
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Alphabetical
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Narrated by:
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Michael Rosen
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By:
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Michael Rosen
About this listen
From minding your Ps and Qs to wondering why X should mark the spot, Alphabetical is a book for everyone who loves words and language. Whether it's how letters are arranged on keyboards or Viking runes, textspeak or zip codes, this book will change the way you think about letters forever.
How on earth did we fix upon our 26 letters? What do they really mean? And how did we come to write them down in the first place?
Michael Rosen takes you on an unforgettable adventure through the history of the alphabet in 26 vivid chapters, fizzing with personal anecdotes and fascinating facts. Starting with the mysterious Phoenicians and how sounds first came to be written down, he races on to show how nonsense poems work, pins down the strange story of OK, traces our five lost letters and tackles the tyranny of spelling, among many, many other things.
His heroes of the alphabet range from Edward Lear to Phyllis Pearsall (the inventor of the A-Z), and from the two scribes of Beowulf to rappers. Each chapter takes on a different subject - whether it's codes, umlauts or the writing of dictionaries.
Rosen's enthusiasm for letters positively leaps off the page, whether it's the story of his life told through the typewriters he's owned or a chapter on jokes written in a string of gags and word games.
So if you ever wondered why Hawaiian only has a 13-letter alphabet, why X should mark the spot or became shorthand for Christmas or how exactly to write down the sound of a wild raspberry, read on....
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
©2013 Michael Rosen (P)2013 John Murray PressListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Alphabetical
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Chris Welch
- 11-10-20
Stick with it, it's good!
Initially this was a bit hard going, though still interesting, but then (about the letter O) it starts to get easier to get through. An interesting history of language and letters, this is a recommended book for lovers of language.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Beelzebub
- 02-05-21
Splendid!
Wonderful book, and so lovely to hear Michael Rosen reading it. Revived my latent interest in word games and puzzles. Thank you.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Julian Griffin
- 23-10-20
Riveting, have listened to it again and again.
I have the printed book as well but to hear the author adds an extra dimension, even though the subject is ostensibly about a writing system, which cannot capture all that can be conveyed in oral communication system.
I highly recommend to all interested in the history of our writing.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Teresa Cooper
- 27-02-16
The history of our language?
This was not quite what I'd been expecting from Michael Rosen, but still readable/listenable. I'd definitely recommend you listen to the sample and decide for yourself.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stephen
- 15-06-14
read beautifully, gorgeously interesting
michael rosen has a voice like warm honey that trickles gently into your ears bringing with it knowledge and entertainment
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Martin
- 05-01-15
Informative fun.
I can't recommend this book enough. buy it now. a well read informative and fun book.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J. Hester
- 05-03-15
Clever
Who would have thought that a book about the alphabet would be so much fun and so incredibly interesting? Every letter really does tell a story!
I bought this after reading a couple of the reviews and am very glad I did, right up my street.
Clever, interesting and funny.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kbro
- 09-11-15
So good I've listened to it 3 times.
Rosen tells a facinating story every chapter. After I first read the book, I thought all histories of English would be be engaging and I tried reading a few others but haven't finished one of those yet. He makes language present and noticible in ways I never considered.
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1 person found this helpful