An invaluable guide to the use of English language - for journalists and for anyone who wants to hack the written word. Essential English is a brisk and pungent guide to the use of words as tools of communication.

 It is written primarily for journalists, yet its lessons are of immense value to all who face the problem of giving information, whether to the general public or within business, professional or social organizations. What makes a good English sentence? How should you rewrite a bad one? What cliches and other word-traps are to be avoided?

How do you shorten unnecessarily verbose source-material? How is the essence of what you have to say be conveyed, and placed in proper relation to any background information? These are questions for all. Using a wealth of examples, all drawn from newspapers in Britain and the United States, Essential English is an indispensable guide for all who have to convey information by the written or printed word.