The Elements of Style

by William Strunk

"The Elements of Style" by William Strunk is a style guide first published in 1920. This compact manual distills the essentials of clear English prose into rules about grammar, punctuation, composition, and word usage. Strunk's original "little book" urged writers to omit needless words and embrace brevity. Later enlarged by his former student E. B. White in 1959, it became the influential writing guide known as "Strunk & White," selling millions of copies and shaping generations of American writers with its prescriptive approach to craft.