What's in a Surname?: A Journey from Abercrombie to Zwicker Book PDF, ePub eBook

Join our eBook service for unlimited books & audiobooks. Get a free 7 day subscription! ↓↓↓↓↓


Book Descriptions:
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Surnames are much more than convenient identity tags; they are windows into our families’ pasts. Some suggest ancestral trades (Butcher, Smith, Roper) or physical appearance (Long, Brown, Thynne). Some provide clues to where we come from (McDonald, Evans, Patel). And some – Rymer, Brocklebank, Stolbof – offer a hint of something just a little more exotic or esoteric.

All are grist to the mill for David McKie who, in What’s in a Surname?, sets off on a journey around Britain to find out how such appellations have evolved and what they tell us about ourselves. En route he looks at the surname’s tentative beginnings in medieval times, and the myriad routes by which particular names became established. He considers some curious byways: the rise and fall of the multi-barrel surname and the Victorian reinvention of ‘embarrassing’ surnames among them. He considers whether fortune favours those whose surnames come at the beginning of the alphabet. And he celebrates the remarkable and the quirky, from the fearsome Ridley (the cry of which once struck terror in the hearts of their neighbours) to the legend-encrusted Tichborne, whose most famous holders were destined to suffer misfortune and controversy. Elegiac and amusing by turns, he offers a wonderfully entertaining wander along the footpaths of the nation’s history and culture, celebrating not just the Smiths and Joneses of these islands but the Chaceporcs and Swetinbeddes, too.

What's in a Surname?: A Journey from Abercrombie to Zwicker by David McKie

From reader reviews:

Diane Adams:

Information is provisions for folks to get better life, information today can get by anyone with everywhere. The information can be a knowledge or any news even a concern. What people must be consider while those information which is inside former life are difficult to be find than now's taking seriously which one is appropriate to believe or which one typically the resource are convinced. If you find the unstable resource then you understand it as your main information it will have huge disadvantage for you. All those possibilities will not happen inside you if you take What's in a Surname?: A Journey from Abercrombie to Zwicker as your daily resource information.

William Mayer:

Spent a free time for you to be fun activity to accomplish! A lot of people spent their free time with their family, or their very own friends. Usually they performing activity like watching television, gonna beach, or picnic within the park. They actually doing ditto every week. Do you feel it? Do you want to something different to fill your personal free time/ holiday? Can be reading a book might be option to fill your cost-free time/ holiday. The first thing you will ask may be what kinds of book that you should read. If you want to test look for book, may be the publication untitled What's in a Surname?: A Journey from Abercrombie to Zwicker can be fine book to read. May be it could be best activity to you.

Edward Orr:

What's in a Surname?: A Journey from Abercrombie to Zwicker can be one of your basic books that are good idea. Most of us recommend that straight away because this guide has good vocabulary that could increase your knowledge in terminology, easy to understand, bit entertaining but nonetheless delivering the information. The author giving his/her effort to put every word into pleasure arrangement in writing What's in a Surname?: A Journey from Abercrombie to Zwicker nevertheless doesn't forget the main point, giving the reader the hottest along with based confirm resource data that maybe you can be among it. This great information can certainly drawn you into completely new stage of crucial considering.

Ronda Powers:

Many people spending their time by playing outside with friends, fun activity having family or just watching TV all day long. You can have new activity to spend your whole day by examining a book. Ugh, do you consider reading a book can definitely hard because you have to take the book everywhere? It all right you can have the e-book, getting everywhere you want in your Touch screen phone. Like What's in a Surname?: A Journey from Abercrombie to Zwicker which is finding the e-book version. So , why not try out this book? Let's notice.