James Essinger

Updated on Jan 14, 2024

Edit

Comment

Occupation Writer Nationality British Role Writer		Language English Name James Essinger Education Lincoln College, Oxford

Born James Julius Essinger 5 September 1957 (age 66) Leicester ( 1957-09-05 ) Alma mater Oxford University, Lincoln College Notable works Jacquard's Web; Spellbound: The surprising origins and astonishing secrets of English spelling Books Ada's Algorithm: How Lord, Jacquard's Web: How a Hand‑L, A Female Genius: How Ada, Spellbound: The Surprisin, Inside Outsourcing: The Insid

James Essinger (born 5 September 1957) is a freelance writer and British author of numerous financial and business management books, but may be best known for his book about the evolution of English language and spelling, Spellbound: The Improbable Story of English Spelling and his popular science book on the history of computing, Jacquard's Web.

Biography

Born in Leicester (5 September 1957), Essinger was educated at Wyggeston Boys' School, Leicester (now Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College) and studied at Lincoln College, University of Oxford, where he obtained an MA in English Language and Literature. Although a competition-level chess player, Essinger chose to focus on his academic career rather than entering the world of professional chess. After University, Essinger went to Finland where he taught English and became fluent in Finnish.

Since 1984, Essinger has been a freelance reporter and prolific writer of books, articles and other publications.

Essinger is a co-manager of the Canterbury Literary Agency, and is the owner of Da Vinci Public Relations, a PR consultancy company which he founded in 2001.

Publications

Essinger's writing begun in finance, management and IT, but more recently focuses on historical books.

Finance, IT and management (selection)

Essinger, James (1991). Global custody (1st ed.). London: Longman. ISBN 978-0851218212.

Essinger, James (1994). Starting a high-income consultancy. Corby: Institute of Management Foundation. ISBN 978-0273605065.

Essinger, James; Wylie, Helen (1999). The seven deadly skills of competing. London: International Thomson Business Press. ISBN 978-1861523747.

Essinger, James (1999). Writing marketing copy to get results. (2nd ed.). London: International Thomson Business. ISBN 978-1861525192.

Essinger, James (1999). The virtual banking revolution (1 ed., Reprint. ed.). London: Internat. Thomson Business Press. ISBN 978-1861523433.

Dembitz, Alex; Essinger, James (2000). Breakthrough consulting : so you want to be a consultant? Turn your expertise into a successful consulting business. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. ISBN 9780273637073.

History of computing

His book, Jacquard's Web, develops from his involvement writing a computer history book about Charles Babbage, The Cogwheel Brain, with Dr. Doron Swade . His own research starts earlier and covers the role of Jacquard's Loom cards (the idea which Babbage used for his first 'computers', the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine), which were the precursors of the first programming languages, a significance recognised by Babbage's friend, Ada Lovelace.

Jacquard's Web (2004) was named one of The Economist's Best Science and Technology Books of 2004 and one of the best books in Science and Technology for 2004 by Entertainment Weekly.

Essinger continues this interest in his biography of Ada Lovelace, A Female Genius: How Ada Lovelace Started the Computer Age (2013)

History of spelling

Spellbound: the true story of man's greatest invention (2005) explores the English language and how it has developed through the ages to the quirkiness of today. Essinger covers topics from the extended meanings of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, King Alfred the Great's promotion of Anglo Saxon English to influences on our contemporary language. He discusses how English is a mongrel mix of languages from as diverse sources as Cornish, Finnish and Inuit, and how it shapes the English people.

References

James Essinger Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA