Amorous or Loving?: The Highly Peculiar Tale of English and the English

Talk - Sir Rupert Gavin Wednesday 15 October

6pm - 8pm

£22.50

Hear Sir Rupert Gavin chart English’s extraordinary path to becoming the most global language today spoken by 1.6 billion all over the world.

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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. Sir Rupert Gavin 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, a chance to view Dr Johnson's House and a book signing.

Sir 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.

Accessibility

There is regrettably no step-free access to Dr Johnson's House.

There are seven steps to access the entrance (with a handrail).

The building is a four-storey townhouse with a staircase between each floor.

There are handrails on each side of the staircase and visitor seating in every room.

Toilets are located down a steep set of stairs.