Henry Hitchings

Henry Hitchings (born 11 December 1974) is an author, reviewer and critic, specializing in narrative non-fiction, with a particular emphasis on language and cultural history.

He was educated at Eton College, where he was a King's Scholar, and then read English at Christ Church, Oxford before researching his PhD, on Samuel Johnson and Sir Thomas Browne, at University College London. He has written for the "Financial Times", the "New Statesman", "The Guardian" and the "Times Literary Supplement", amongst other publications, and has made radio, television and festival appearances.

In 2005 he published "Dr Johnson's Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book that Defined the World" [citation |last=Hitchings |first=Henry |authorlink=Henry Hitchings |title=Dr Johnson's Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book that Defined the World |publisher=John Murray |location=London |year=2005 |isbn=0719566312.] , a biography of Samuel Johnson's epochal A Dictionary of the English Language (1755). The book is the first popular account of Johnson's magnum opus. The American edition was titled "Defining the World: The Extraordinary Story of Dr Johnson's Dictionary" [citation |last=Hitchings |first=Henry |authorlink=Henry Hitchings |title=Defining the World: the extraordinary story of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |location=New York |year=2005 |isbn=0374113025 [http://www.holtzbrinckpublishers.com/academic/Book/BookDisplay.asp?BookKey=4589082] ] and won the Modern Language Association's prize for the best work by an independent scholar in 2005. [ [http://www.mla.org/resources/awards/awards_winners/pastwinners_annual/pastwinners_indsch Modern Language Association Prize for Independent Scholars] ]

In April 2008 Hitchings published "The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English", a study of loanwords, calques and their cultural significance. [citation |last=Hitchings |first=Henry |authorlink=Henry Hitchings |title=The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English |publisher=John Murray |location=London |year=2008 |isbn=9780719564543.]

This was followed in October 2008 by "How to Really Talk About Books You Haven't Read", a guide to books and literary erudition. [citation |last=Hitchings |first=Henry |authorlink=Henry Hitchings |title=How to Really Talk About Books You Haven't Read |publisher=John Murray |location=London |year=2008 |isbn=9781848540095]

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