|aThe adventure of English :|bthe biography of a language /|cby Melvyn Bragg.
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|aNew York :|bArcade Pub. :|bDistributed by Time Warner Book Group,|c2011.
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|axii, 322 p. :|bill. (some col.) ;|c25 cm.
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|aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [303]-312) and index.
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|aThe common tongue -- The great escape -- Conquest -- Holding on -- The speech of kings -- Chaucer -- God's english -- English and the language of the state -- William Tyndale's bible -- A renaissance of words -- Preparing the ground -- Shakespeare's english -- "My America" -- Wild west words -- Sold down the river -- Mastering the language -- The proper way to talk -- Steam, streets and slang -- Indian takeover -- The West Indies -- Advance Australia -- Warts and all -- All over the world -- And now ...?
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|aA history of the English language traces its evolution from a Germanic dialect around 500 A.D. to its modern form, noting the influence of such groups and individuals as early Anglo-Saxon tribes, Alfred the Great, and William Shakespeare.