WELLS FESTIVAL OF LITERATURE 2011
ADVANCE NOTICE
‘THE BOOK OF BOOKS’ ‘the
Radical Impact of the King James Bible 1611 to 2011’
Melvyn Bragg will speak about his new book
on Thursday 20th October 2011 at 7.30pm in Wells Cathedral
This book is the definitive history of one of the most influential books in the
history of the world. King James Bible, in its 400th anniversary
year, is both the standard scriptural text and, for centuries, the best-selling
book in the English-speaking world. Melvyn Bragg reveals the political,
linguistic, and religious influences the Bible has had throughout the
centuries.
This is the story of the 300 year fight to get the Bible into the English language,
and the grisly deaths of many of the Oxford scholars involved in its
translation. It is the story of Henry VIII’s Reformation and James of
Scotland’s determination for his version to become England’s bible when he
assumed the throne. It is the extraordinary story of William Tyndale – a master of English to rival Shakespeare.
The political history of the Bible is equally remarkable. It was used as a source of propaganda in the English Civil War, and has inspired debates about democracy and justice from the American War of Independence to the speeches of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. And then there is its impact on culture, above all on language. The King James Bible has had a profound effect on the English language over the last 400 years.
Melvyn Bragg has written several works of non-fiction as well as his bestselling novels. He was born in 1939 and educated at Wigton’s Nelson Thomlinson School and at Oxford where he read history. He is
President of the National Campaign for the Arts and Mind, and in 1998 he was
made a life peer.
For more Information about the Wells Festival of Literature 2011 or to contact us, see our
website on www.wellslitfest.org.uk.
Tickets £12.50 on sale in July or early August.
You can contact us on mail@maddiebrown.co.uk
Other Keynote events:
Friday
14th October, Shirley Williams on her autobiography ,at 7.30pm in St
Thomas’s Church
Saturday
15th October, Pam Ayres on her autobiography, at 6pm in the Town Hall
Saturday 15th October, Matt Frei , ‘ America’s Role in the W orld Today’ at
8pm. in the Town Hall
Friday, 21st Oct. Peter and Dan Snow,“Woolf and Wellington, two great
commanders’ at 7.30pm in St Thomas Church
All are invited to a Quiet Morning on April 19th from 10.00 to 12.00 in the Baptist Church Mill street.
Theme Psalm 23 Beside still waters.
Refreshments provided.
No charge for the morning.