Strictly English
  • Published: 1 November 2011
  • ISBN: 9781446474792
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352
Categories:

Strictly English

The correct way to write ... and why it matters

Formats & editions
EBook
1 Nov 2011
Paperback
1 Nov 2011
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The Telegraph's master English stylist shows how it's done

\"Be in no doubt: the beer was drunk but the man drank the beer.\"

\"We must avoid vulgarities like 'front up'. If someone is 'fronting up' a television show, then he is presenting it.\"

Simon Heffer's incisive and amusingly despairing emails to colleagues at the The Daily Telegraph about grammatical mistakes and stylistic slips have attracted a growing band of ardent fans over recent years. Now, in his new book Strictly English, he makes an impassioned case for an end to the sloppiness that has become such a hallmark of everyday speech and writing, and shows how accuracy and clarity are within the grasp of anyone who is prepared to take the time to master a few simple rules.

If you wince when you see \"different than\" in print, or are offended by people who think that \"infer\" and \"imply\" mean the same thing, then this book will provide reassurance that you are not alone. And if you believe that precise and elegant English really does matter, then it will prove required reading.
  • Published: 1 November 2011
  • ISBN: 9781446474792
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 352
Categories:

About the author

Simon Heffer

Simon Heffer was born in 1960. He read English at Cambridge and took a PhD in modern history at that university. His previous books include: Moral Desperado: A Life of Thomas Carlyle, Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell, Power and Place: The Political Consequences of King Edward VII, Nor Shall My Sword: The Reinvention of England, Vaughan Williams, Strictly English, A Short History of Power, Simply English and High Minds: The Victorians and the Birth of Modern Britain. In a thirty-year career in Fleet Street, he has held senior editorial positions on The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator, and is now a columnist for The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.

Also by Simon Heffer

Scarcely English
Sing As We Go
Staring at God
The Age of Decadence
Simply English
High Minds
See all

Praise for Strictly English

An impassioned case for correct English, full of practical advice

Country Life

Every one of us who gasps at the use of English in the papers each morning or harrumphs on turning on the radio will find much to applaud

The Spectator

I have spent several productive hours reading Strictly English

Jeffrey Archer, Daily Telegraph

His evidently strong feelings about his subject, fluently expressed, make this book lively and engrossing

Times Literary Supplement

The Holy Grail of grammar ... It is a delight to read and learn from this book

Field

Heffer's polemic in favour of grammatical precision is an important and persuasive one

Choice

Anyone who writes for a living, or who wants to write well, could benefit from a few hours spent with Heffer's amusing and clearly organised book

Literary Review
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