Customer Reviews

The Plain English Guide

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book provides excellent advice to lawyers, businesspeople and other people who need to communicate to others in writing. Although some of the guidelines provided are more typical of British (rather than American) English, and although there are some guidelines with which I disagree, the book provides good advice and great examples. I plan to recommend it to my legal writing classes.

This book is a joy to read and has much good advice for better writing. The tips are practical, easy-to-understand, and effective. The before-and-after examples are great. The author's tone is enthusiastic; he makes you feel good about writing more plainly. The advice here will benefit lawyers, government employees, business people, and anyone who writes information that others must use.

This book was printed in 1995. It's British. Thus, it would be useful for those who are completely new to the idea of "plain English," especially in a British context. There's nothing wrong with it, really. It's well enough written, and the advice is generally sound and perfectly applicable. But since it's so old, I certainly could not recommend it to clients or others with a straight face. There are plenty of more modern books on the market. (I will say that the price was fair: one penny plus shipping.)