'The English language is like a fleet of juggernaut trucks that goes on regardless.' In this fascinating book, Robert Burchfield, editor of the four-volume Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary, expertly stresses both the resilience and flexibility of the English language, tracing its history from the 5th century AD to the present day. From the days of runes to the origins of printing, through social, religious, political and industrial change in the eighteenth century, through the rise of the British Empire and the development of world English, and into the twentieth-century, the English language has undergone sweeping changes. 'the best brief survey I have read on the development of English' Anthony Burgess; 'an expert, absorbing guide to the English-speaking world's biggest asset' Sunday Times; 'It can be recommended without reservation to all who are sensitive to the subtlety, richness and power of the language they speak' British Book News; 'so skilfully written that it must surely take a place among the best three or four books ever written about our language' Birmingham Post