The Adventure of English
By Melvyn Bragg
Chapter 1: The Common Tongue
Chapter 2: The Great Escape
Chapter 3: The Norman Conquest
Chapter 4: Holding On
Chapter 5: The Speech of Kings
Chapter 6: Chaucer
Chapter 7: God's English
Chapter 8: The Language of the State
Chapter 9: William Tyndale's Bible
Chapter 10: A Renaissance of Words
Chapter 11: Preparing the Ground
Chapter 12: Shakespeare's English
Chapter 13: My America
Part 1
Part 2
Chapter 14: Wild West Words
Chapter 15: Sold Down the River
Chapter 16: Mastering the Language
Chapter 17: The Proper Way to Talk
Chapter 18: Steam, Streets and Slang
Chapter 19: Indian Takeover
Chapter 20: The West Indies
Chapter 21: Advance Australia
Chapter 22: Warts and All
Chapter 23: All Over the World
Chapter 24: And Now...?