Scuffles, Swagger and Shakespeare: The Hidden Story of English(2019)

Scuffles, Swagger and Shakespeare: The Hidden Story of English Synopsis

The English language is spoken by 450 million people around the globe, with a further one billion using it as a second language. It is arguably Britain’s most famous export. The man often given credit for the global triumph of English, and the invention of many of our modern words, is William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s plays first hit the stage four centuries ago, as the explorers of Elizabethan England were laying the foundations for the British empire. It was this empire that would carry English around the world. Language historian and BBC New Generation Thinker Dr John Gallagher asks whether the real story of how English became a global linguistic superpower is more complex.

Scuffles, Swagger and Shakespeare: The Hidden Story of English (2019) is a documentary film directed by Chris Nikkel, released on November 12, 2019 with a runtime of 29m. It stars Jonathan Culpeper, Simon Horobin, Farah Karim-Cooper and Cathy Shrank.