From Old English to Standard English: A Course Book in Language Variation Across Time

Lori A. Dunn is an ESL teacher and editor of the Toronto women’s
magazine Feminie.

Freeborn has compiled a tantalizing course book on the changes that have
taken place in the English language since the fifth century. He has made
the progress of English accessible to all, regardless of linguistic
knowledge and experience. Depending on his or her inclination, the
reader can merely observe the data, read deeper into the description, or
go fully into the explanations and practical exercises.

Everything about this book appeals, from the typeface to the content.
Freeborn includes overviews of the social and political scene for each
period, original facsimiles of texts along with the text in modern type,
and word-by-word “translations” accompanied by the modern English
version. Interspersed with these are activities with varying degrees of
difficulty. Freeborn also discusses the evolution of orthography
(spelling), lexicography (vocabulary), syntax (grammar), and graphology
(handwriting).

The scope of the text may intimidate some readers, but Freeborn
succeeds in holding interest with terse commentary and a brilliant
layout, and by letting the texts speak for themselves.