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The Book Of Books: A Biography Of The King James Bible, 1611-2011 (2011)

by Melvyn Bragg(Favorite Author)

3.32 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1444705156 (ISBN13: 9781444705157)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

review 1: I have a copy of the King James Bible which my mother was given by her mother in 1931. I was given other "modern" versions of the Bible in my childhood by my conscientious Godfather (The Good News Bible and the New English Bible) and bought a Catholic Bible (The Jerusalem Bible) when I discovered that the Protestant Bible doesn't include the books of Tobit, Judith, Esther and 1st and 2nd Book of Maccabees which are considered Apocrypha. (What's that all about?) So I'm pretty versed in the Bible but it is the King James version which I remember and like many people can recite Psalm 23 from it by heart. (And much of the spoof - "The Lord and I are in a sheep/shepherd situation"). I guess I was expecting more from this book. It's quite interesting but Melvyn Bragg needs a bet... moreter editor as he is repetitive and too much of an apologist for the Anglican Church. I found his saying things over and over "don't make 'em so". Nevertheless there are interesting history lessons in this book about the (inevitable?) consequences for the English monarchy of allowing the people to read their own sacred texts in their own language. I hadn't heard the speculation about whether Shakespeare wrote Psalm 46 ("Be still and know that I am God") either. While Bragg made some good points, the section attacking The God Delusion and its author seemed out of place in this book.
review 2: Started out fascinating. The history of the King James Bible, specifically the translation of the Bible into English and its impact on the peoples of the world was fascinating. Bragg then broke up his story into areas of influence: society, education, missions, etc. and it started to fall apart. It seemed more like a treatise on the bible's words themselves and not on the impact they have had on people over the years. Plus it got very dry, repetitive and tedious. Unfortunate given how incredibly readable the first few chapters were. less

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