The History of Britain Revealed: The Shocking Truth About the English Language

by M.J. Harper

In gloriously corrosive prose, M.J. Harper destroys the cherished national myths of the English, the Scots, the Welsh, the Irish and - to demonstrate his lack of national bias - the French.

Genres: History

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2007

Reviews

[David Cheshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a firecracker of a book, funnily written, racy and jaw-dropping in the reckless way the author wades into "anomalies" in many disciplines and also academics for choosing to ignore them. Harper loves anomalies; he attacks them fearlessly. The key argument - for which I bought the book - is that the traditional story of how the English language and people were created in a neat sequence of Celtic-Roman-Anglo Saxon "invasions" needs drastic revision. This is not apparently original to Harper, but in the complete absence of references of any kind it's hard to judge the originality or reliability of anything he says. This becomes utterly impossible when he widens his aim and lets rip against current thinking in nearly every discipline you can think of, from history, archaeology and linguistics to genetics, geology and evolutionary biology, all of which he condemns as fundamentally misguided. Although his sustained rants are often persuasive and amusing, the problem is that unless you're like him, i.e. a (presumably?)super-polymath, how do you judge whether they're brilliant or just loopy? It's a sparky read, but do I believe a word of it? If so, which bits? It's interesting to have basic knowledge challenged but, despite his critique of such academic flummery, the absence of references and peer review leave the reader with fundamental doubts. Untl these are resolved, the book remains an eccentric curiosity.

[Gary Bonn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utterly hilarious and enlightening attack on paradigms, doctrines and science. Yes it's informative but it's massively entertaining. A rampant epistemological bull in a shop of very fragile china - this is a great way to learn how to critically evaluate and challenge all you've been told to believe.

[Caomhghain · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a hoot! Take a knowledge of a child's history of early Britain from thirty or forty years ago, ignore all developments since, then have a theory of the way languages work (a language is a language is a language) or the histories of any languages (they don't have a history), and you have a work which is quite amazing. It's so bad it's good, as they say. It's almost worth reading alone for the complete misunderstanding of Vulgar Latin. And all because historians, archaeologists, philologist and linguists are secretly conspiring together to fool everyone else. One can only ask why.
I came across my copy in a charity, second hand bookshop.
Brings to mind the Fomenko Theory.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking book, I feel history should always be subject to revision if new evidence comes to light. I particularly like the notion that the English language has been spoken for far longer in a form similar to now, and that Anglo Saxon (or what has been called Old English) may have been a 'German' import around 600AD and spoken by a ruling elite. If you want to think outside of the box, and why shouldn't you? this is a book for you.

[Justin Neville · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will write a review when I've calmed down and have processed what my lawyer friend has advised me to say or, rather, what not to say when I describe what I think about the author.

[Icon Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Mind-blowing, incredibly entertaining stuff.' Daily Mail

'Unusual, funny and provocative, Harper wears his learning lightly but has a serious point to make - fascinating.' New Statesman

'The best rewriting of history since 1066 And All That.' Fortean Times

'Witty, provocative, persuasive and original. This book brings a blast of fresh air to British History.' Rupert Sheldrake

'Punchy and Polemical - an interesting and provocative book.' Metro

Do you think you know where the English language came from? Think again.

In gloriously corrosive prose, M. J. Harper destroys the cherished national myths of the English, the Scots, the Welsh, the Irish and - to demonstrate his lack of national bias - the French. In doing so he also shows that most entries in the Oxford English dictionary are wrong, the whole of British place-name theory is misconceived, Latin is not what it seems, the Anglo-Saxons played no major part in history or language, and Middle English is a wholly imaginary language created by well-meaning but deluded academics.

Iconoclastic, unsentimental and truly original, The History of Britain Revealed will change the way you think about history, language and much else besides.

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‘Unusual, funny and provocative, Harper wears his learning lightly but has a serious point to make … fascinating’ New Statesman; ‘The best re-writing of history since 1066 And All That’ Fortean Times; ‘The most outrageous book I have ever read’ The Oldie; ‘Witty, provocative, persuasive and original. This book brings a blast of fresh air to British history and liberates the English from a confused creation myth. It made scales fall from my eyes.’ Rupert Sheldrake; ‘Mind-blowing, incredibly entertaining stuff’ Daily Mail

[Richard Olney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes a wandering and a wondering enticement to think differently, but mostly a rant. I could have done without the swearing and i really hope that the francophobia and the attacks on academia are meant to be considered as jokes, if not then they're appalling. Either way it's not very nice.

The central idea that no-one knows anything and so we should be careful to consider unfounded theories as being orthodox and therefore true, is appealing. However, the book then goes on to give its own answers to the questions about the history of the English Language, and that the author's own conclusions seem to be founded on even less evidence undermines his argument.

So, it's ideal for the long bath, or the dreich Autumn day which was when i read it, but for me it's tabloid history. Ok to enjoy it, and to take away that one shouldn't trust everything one's told but don't take it's facts it too seriously.

[Graham Tapper]

A very thought provoking book about who we, the English, really are, where we came from and what is the origin of the language we all speak. Harper comes up with some very challenging ideas in which he suggests that the the Historians may have got it all arse about face. A sort of linguistic, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?". A very interesting and amusing treatise. Even if you end up not agreeing with all of his ideas, it will give you pause for thought. Next time someone starts banging on about "Our Anglo-Saxon heritage" you will be able to ask, "So, what heritage is that, exactly? Show me the proof. Oh, that old chestnut! Well, that doesn't actually prove anything!".

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good god what a stupid, stupid book. I guarantee you, anyone who highly-rated this book (or "The Secret History of the English Language", its later repackaging) has no background in linguistics or non-modern languages. Avoid.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out with good promise, but it became a bit repetitive towards the end. I'm a bit dissapointed as there are few good books out there that deal with language

[Paula Wharton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if you don't agree with it, it'll make you think. Love this book.

[Stephen Hampshire · Rating 1 out of 5]

Superficially intriguing, but ultimately a silly, pompous, book.

I hope it's an elaborate in-joke about how easy it is to write this kind of pseudo-academic "revisionist" drivel. If not, the straw man arguments Harper constructs are easily and comprehensively demolished by people who understand the linguistics or (pre)history at question.