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 late 9th century by 200,000 people become the world’s language spoken by 1.6 billion people today?
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.

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.