Have added Melvyn Bragg's The Adventure of English to our reading aloud list. Despite being well aware of some of the crisis points coming - such as the Norman invasion - there's still some suspense, as well as a lot of fascinating detail and examples. And still words that are different in the north and south (UK) for reasons of historical occupation. Bragg himself grew up speaking a Cumbrian dialect at home and a significantly different "received pronunciation" (BBC English) at school.
