Here is the riveting story of the English language, from its humble beginnings as a regional dialect to its current preeminence as the lingua franca of the global market, spoken by one-and-a-half billion people worldwide. Melvyn Bragg`s "adventure" takes in the Norman invasion of England in 1066; the arrival of The Canterbury Tales and a "coarse" playwright named William Shakespeare; the songs of slaves and the Lewis and Clark expedition, which led to hundreds of new words as the explorers discovered uncataloged flora and fauna.