IN THE BEGINNING The King James Bible and How it Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture

Of the two bodies of literature that have had the greatest influence on modern English, the works of Shakespeare have received tomes of popular and scholarly attention, while the King James Bible has been more or less left alone. Alister McGrath, an Oxford professor of historical theology, makes up for that lapse, tracing the technological, political, linguistic, and theological background of the translation and publication of the first authorized English language Bible in 1611. Professor McGrath reads his own work in a precise, measured, and euphonic style. His reading is elegant without being pretentious or preachy as he brings to life the personalities, scholarship, and cultural milieu of the time, making IN THE BEGINNING fascinating and highly informative. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]