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The book that changed the world
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THE PEOPLE’S BIBLE: The Remarkable History of the King James
Version. Wilson, Derek. Lion UK 2010, 224p, 9780745953519 [220.52]
Derek Wilson is a writer whose interests are wide-ranging and whose works
vary from histories of the Tudor monarchs to scripts for BBC radio and TV,
to a series of murder mysteries set in the art world. In this history of the
KJV, Wilson brings his crisp and lively storytelling style to the bizarre and
tangled world of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century England and the commissioning of the
KJV. Good reading.
VERILY, VERILY: The KJV – 400 Years of Influence and Beauty.
Sweeney, Jon. Zondervan 2011, 224p, 9780310320258 [220.52]
In his cheerfully and informally written overview, Sweeney, a writer of a
number of other books on spiritual topics, breezes through the early history
of Wyclif, Tyndale, and other early Bible scholars, recaps some history of
the Tudor monarchy, then plunges in to the work of translating that became
the KJV. Favorite chapter: “Lo, the humor!”, which captures some of the KJV verbiage
which now strikes us as funny. Possibly not the best of the current crop of volumes, but
still worthwhile.
A VISUAL HISTORY OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE: The Dramatic
Story of The World’s Best Known Translation. Brake, Donald L. Baker
2011, 284p, 9780801013478 [220.52]
Adeptly written for the general reader and richly illustrated with photos
and other reproductions, this book covers the time from the first English
translations of Scripture through the publication and impact of the King
James Version and its descendants to the current time. A good companion volume to
Brake’s 2008 publication A Visual History of The English Bible: the tumultuous tale of the
world’s bestselling book, which despite its unfortunately too-similar title, is a different book,
focusing more heavily on early English Bibles.
Recent Publications of Continued Interest
GOD’S SECRETARIES: The Making of the King James Bible. Nicolson,
Adam. Harper Perennial 2005, 336p, paper, 9780060838737 [220.52]
Focusing on the political climate of the time of James I and the religious and
political challenges of creating a new Bible translation to weld the English
and Scots into a united Great Britain, Nicolson tells the story of the men who
worked together to create, in the end, a masterpiece. This primarily covers
the seventeenth-century history of the KJV; for its later impact, or for its literary legacy,
see other volumes in this list.
IN THE BEGINNING: The Story of the King James Bible and How it
Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture. McGrath, Alister. Anchor
2002, 352p, 9780385722162 [220.52]
McGrath starts his compelling, readable story with the impact of the printing
press: for the first time, books could be put in the hands of the average person
at relatively low cost. No book was more sought than the Bible, and its
printing changed the English nation. McGrath is especially good on sketching the political
climate of the Reformation and the time of King James and on describing the impact of
the KJV on the English language.
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