You know the authors' names. You recognize the title. You've probably used this book yourself. This is The Elements of Style, the classic style manual, now in a fourth edition. A new Foreword by Roger Angell reminds readers that the advice of Strunk & White is as valuable today as when it was first offered.This book's unique tone, wit and charm have conveyed the principles of English style to millions of readers. Use the fourth edition of "the little book" to make a big impact with writing.
At the close of the first World War, when I was a student at
Cornell, I took a course called English 8. My professor was
William Strunk Jr. A textbook required for the course was a
slim volume called The Elements of Style, whose author was
the professor himself. The year was 1919. The book was
known on the campus in those days as “the little book,” with
the stress on the word “little.” It had been privately printed by
the author.
I passed the course, graduated from the university, and forgot
the book but not the professor. Some thirty-eight years later,
the book bobbed up again in my life when Macmillan
commissioned me to revise it for the college market and the
general trade. Meantime, Professor Strunk had died.
