The Book of Prefaces | The Book of Prefaces

At a glance:

Author: Alasdair Gray
First Published: 2000
Type of Work: Literary history
Time of Work: c. 675-1920
Setting: Great Britain and the United States
Principal Characters: Caedmon, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Caxton, Richard Hakluyt, Christopher Marlowe, Walt Whitman
Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction
Subjects: United States or Americans, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, Literature, Eighteenth century, Seventeenth century, Fifteenth century, Sixteenth century, Great Britain, Thirteenth century, Fourteenth century, Tenth century, Twelfth century, Eleventh century, Eighth century, Ninth century, Seventh century
Locales: United States, Great Britain

Daniel Defoe referred to “your Roman-Saxon-Danish-Norman English,” thus encapsulating fifteen hundred years of linguistic history. The linguistic legacy of the Roman occupation of Britain appears largely in place names, such as names ending in “-chester,” the Old English borrowing of the Latin castra, military camp.

The last Roman legions left in 410 c.e. In 449, Angles, Jutes, and Saxons sailed across the North Sea from Denmark and Lower Saxony to England. Over the next 150 years these invaders drove the Celts into the island’s western mountains. The Celts were...

The Book of Prefaces | The Book of Prefaces

At a glance:

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