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Ernest Gowers: Plain words and forgotten deeds edited by Ann Scott

by
October 2010, no. 325

Ernest Gowers: Plain words and forgotten deeds edited by Ann Scott

Palgrave Macmillan, $168 hb, 273 pp

Ernest Gowers: Plain words and forgotten deeds edited by Ann Scott

by
October 2010, no. 325

Ernest Gowers is remembered, if at all, for the writings on the English language which he undertook towards the end of his life. In 1948, at the request of the British Treasury, he wrote a small book called Plain Words. It was intended for the use of civil servants, not all of whom appreciated it, but it attracted a far wider audience, sold in huge numbers, and has never been out of print. An expanded version, entitled The Complete Plain Words, appeared in 1954. Subsequently, the Clarendon Press asked Gowers to produce a revised edition of H.W. Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1926). He laboured on the task for nine years, completing it at the age of eighty-five.

Graeme Powell reviews 'Ernest Gowers: Plain words and forgotten deeds' edited by Ann Scott

Ernest Gowers: Plain words and forgotten deeds

edited by Ann Scott

Palgrave Macmillan, $168 hb, 273 pp

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