The Bible in English David Daniell

The greatest of the earlier translators of the Bible into English, William Tyndale, died in 1536 as a martyr for his work. Immediately after him, however, translations proliferated: the Bible has now been translated into English from its original Greek and Hebrew more than 3000 times. This is the extraordinary story of the Bible in England from approximately the fourth century, and its later translation into English in Britain and America to the 21st century.

Biblical scholar David Daniell charts the profound impact successive versions of the Bible have had on the people and communities that read them. He explains the work of major translators, the history of influential translations including Coverdale's, the Geneva Bibles and the King James Bible, and how greatly Americans have contributed in the late-20th century, especially after the American Revised Standard Version. Encompassing centuries of change - from a time when no-one except priests had knowledge of the Bible beyond traditional stories mixed with saints' lives, through later years when ordinary people were steeped in Biblical doctrine and language, to the present when popular knowledge of the Bible, we are told, has disappeared - this text reveals how the endeavour of translating the Bible into English has changed religious practice, the arts, society and even the English language itself.

David Daniell is Professor Emeritus of English at University College London. He is the editor of Tyndale's translations of the Bible, Tyndale's Old Testament (0 300 05211 1, [pound]30.00*) and Tyndale's New Testament (0 300 06580 9, [pound]10.95* pb.), and the author of William Tyndale: A Biography (0 300 06880 8, [pound]8.99* pb.).

"The work has clearly been a great labour of love and its welcome competitive pricing will hopefully make it a wealth of information available to a wider public" - Theology Magazine

"At nearly 900 pages, this is a substantial study...but Professor Daniell still tells an entertaining story in his approachable style." - Church Times

"This mammothy book...is invaluable for scholars... It is an essential guide to the role that the Bible has played in the culture of the English-speaking world. Daniell freely expresses his very idiosyncratic opinions, however iconoclastic. The Bible in English is a magnificent achievement and the single most valuable book that I have seen on the influence of the Bible on English and American history, literature, and culture." - William Kupersmith, Integrite

"It is a tribute to the author's skill in imparting knowledge that this 900-page work of reference is also a gripping page-turner." - Methodist Recorder