[fantasyfan]

This year is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King james Version of the Bible. There are two good books on the subject of this hugely influential translation available on Amazon.
First is The Legacy of the King James Bible by Leland Ryken. He analyses the influence of the KJV in the folowing areas:

1. the King James Bible in its own day
2. The King James Bible in History
3. The King James Bible as a Literary Masterpiece
4. The Literary Influence of the King James Bible

Another work is The Book of Books by Melvyn Bragg.I downloaded an extended free sample and was impressed with the author's vigorous style and the width of his study of the influence of the KJV on Western civilisation. He makes the point that there is an argument for considering this book to have been the most important volume ever put in print regardless of one's religious belief or lack of such.

The Book of Books does have a wider sweep, presenting its ideas in broad brushstrokes, while Ryken is more scholarly and literary in emphasis, dealing with specific areas such as the contrasts between literal translations and the "dynamic equivalence" approach to Biblical translation, and the history of these traditions. I suspect that Bragg will appeal more to the general reader.

Bragg's book is 384 pages long but still rather on the pricey side at over $20--even in e-book format. Ryken's volume is of comparable length but only $9.39.