The Adventure of English
Holding my interest all the way was Melvyn Bragg’s The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language. He tells how English began around AD 500, then evolved by borrowing words from the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, and French. Then Americans, Australians, and Indians contributed to changes. Now how widespread the language is! He predicts further alterations to English will be shaped by those who speak it as a second language.