In a hugely enjoyable read with gloriously corrosive prose, MJ Harper slashes and burns through the whole of accepted academic thought about the history of the English Language.

According to Harper:

1. English does not derive from Anglo-Saxon.

2. French, Italian, and Spanish did not descend from Latin.

3. Middle English is a wholly imaginary language created by well-meaning by deluded academics.

And that’s just the beginning! Part revisionist history, part treatise on the real origins of English, and part impassioned argument against staid academe, The Secret History of the English Language is essential reading for language lovers, history buffs, Anglophiles, and anyone who has ever thought twice about what they’ve learned in school.