Amorous or Loving?: The Highly Peculiar Tale of English and the English

Name: Amorous or Loving?: The Highly Peculiar Tale of English and the English
Start: 2027-01-27T18:30:00+00:00
End: 2027-01-27T20:00:00+00:00
Location: Dr Johnson's House

Schedule

Wed Jan 27 2027 at 06:30 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

Dr Johnson's House | London, EN

How did a marginal dialect spoken in the 9th-century become the world’s lingua franca? An entertaining romp through the history of English!
About this Event

The Highly Peculiar Tale of English and the English

English was a marginal dialect in the late 9th century spoken by about 200,000 people under existential threat. The Battle of Edington in 878 changed all that.

Join Sir Rupert Gavin as he charts English’s extraordinary path to becoming the most global language today spoken by 1.6 billion all over the world.

He follows the story from Beowulf, Chaucer and Wycliffe, to Tyndall, Shakespeare and Donne via way of Samuel Johnson and Charles Dickens to the present day, in a highly entertaining and thought-provoking romp.

Ticket includes a welcome drink, book signing and a chance to view Dr Johnson's House.

Doors open 6pm; Talk starts 6.30pm.

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!

Limited capacity, early booking recommended!

Rupert Gavin

Gavin has been a central figure in the cultural world for 40 years. He has led organisations as diverse as the BBC, Odeon Cinemas, British Telecom and currently English National Ballet. He is a prolific theatre producer, having helped mount over 300 high profile productions winning 28 Olivier awards and 7 Tony awards.

Praise for Amorous or Loving?

'A highly entertaining, richly personal and extremely loving look at the history of England. Fabulous.'
Lucy Worsley

'A tour de force! A fascinating journey through what has made the English and their language unique.'
Antonia Fraser

'An original and learned romp through centuries of history and language… Bravo!'
Zeinab Badawi

'Inspires us to value the miracle that is the English language… Dickens would have understood and relished it.'
Simon Callow

Accessibility - There is regrettably no step-free access to Dr Johnson's House.

There are seven steps to access the entrance (with a handrail). The building is a four-storey townhouse with a staircase between each floor. There are handrails on each side of the staircase and visitor seating in every room. Toilets are located down a steep set of stairs.