Download "The Elements of Style" for Free

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

One of the most celebrated texts for writers is William Strunk, Jr.'s The Elements of Style. If you've ever taken a writing class or done any extra studying about writing, you've likely seen this short book quoted or listed as recommended reading. Written initially as a short handbook for his students in 1918, Strunk's work has remained a standard handbook of English writing ever since. It's a brief book, but includes some of the best advice on correct English rules of usage, commonly misused and misspelled words, and

In the years since its original publishing, The Elements of Style has been updated numerous times, and in 1935 E. B. White contributed to the updating, causing the book to generally be known as Strunk and White. You can still purchase the most up-to-date version as a paper book from Amazon today, though oddly enough the latest editions are not available as eBooks. Both the Kindle Store and iBooks include copies of The Elements of Style, but they're actually just reformatted copies of the original edition from others.

Since the original was published in 1918, though, the original Elements of Style is out of copyright in the US and most other countries. Thanks to that, the book was published fully on Wikisource, Wikipedia's site for public domain books. You can read it online there, and since the chapters are quite short, it's a great reference to keep bookmarked so you can check whenever you're writing. Alternately, you can also download The Elements of Style in nicely formatted PDF, mobi, or ePub files from Feedbooks for free. These copies are great to save to your eBook library so you can read the whole book from your computer, iPhone/iPad, Kindle, or other device anytime you want.

The Elements of Style is definitely still a useful handbook for English writing, and I just read through the first section this afternoon as part of my required reading for my current technology communications class. Interestingly, it's also a great companion book to the new book from A List Apart, The Elements of Content Strategy, which is written to help writers craft online content that's as high quality as is demanded of traditional writers.

It's amazing how timeless the advice in The Elements of Style is for it to still be relevant all these years later. Whether you're a full-time writer or just need a few pointers to make your writing flow better, it's a great guide that's quick and easy to read. For free!

Download The Elements of Style in PDF, ePub, or mobi format from Feedbooks

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