BookBrowse Blog

An Animated History of English in 10 Minutes, Plus Recommended Books

Posted: November 28, 2011 3:35 PM
1 Comment
Related Categories: Recommended Books, History, Beyond the Book

The English language is a wonderful thing. For a whistle stop tour through it's 1500 year (or thereabouts) history, sit back and enjoy The History of English in 10 Minutes produced by Britain's Open University:

1. Anglo Saxon

2. The Norman Conquest

3. Shakespeare

4. The King James Bible

5. The English of Science

6. English and Empire

7. The Age of the Dictionary

8. American English

9. Internet English

10. Global English

And if this leaves you with a thirst for more on the topic, may I suggest:

The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language
by Melvyn Bragg

A landmark history of the English language detailing how and where it began 1,500 years ago and how it evolved to become the tongue of some two billion people worldwide.

The Meaning of Everything : The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary
by Simon Winchester

A scintillating account of the creation of the greatest monument ever erected to a living language.

Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of Our Alphabet From A to Z
by David Sacks

A fun, lively, and learned excursion into the alphabet, and into cultural history.

[Add Comment]

Fabulous! Love that English humour wherever it comes from. The Winchester book on the OED, BTW, is great.

# Posted By Judy Krueger | 11/29/11 12:34 PM

Comments (Please click on the link above to post a comment. Your comment will not appear until approved.)

[Subscribe to Comments]

search blog

Topics

Art & gifts inspired by books (12)
Best of Year (37)
Beyond the Book (75)
Book Club Advice (49)
Book Club Reading Lists (99)
Books into Movies (18)
Culture Corner (24)
Guest Blogs & Author Interviews (66)
Helping Others (13)
History (15)
Libraries (16)
Miscellanea (100)
Read-Alikes (2)
Recommended Books (151)

Join BookBrowse

Become a Member and discover books that entertain, engage & enlighten!

Join Today!

Recent Comments

BookBrowse's Read-Alikes and Nancy Pearl's Rule of Four
Nick said: Hi Rosellen, That means we have no read-alikes for Julia Quinn - Julia Quinn is a romance author, a... [More]

BookBrowse's Read-Alikes and Nancy Pearl's Rule of Four
Rosellen said: Is your "Read-Alike by Author" broken? It seems to simply list authors with similar names,... [More]

How Anyone Can Fight Book Bans
Josephine Jones said: I am on the board of my local public library, and we have been dealing for months with an attempt to... [More]

A Summary of the BookBrowse Site Update and Rebrand
Nick said: Hi Allison - yes! All subscribing libraries can request new print materials, you can see the options... [More]

A Summary of the BookBrowse Site Update and Rebrand
Allison said: The rebrand and new website look fantastic. Will you be sending new promo materials to library subsc... [More]