The History of the Alphabet

I've been following the History of English Podcast for a while. Although redundant on occasion, Mr. Stroud is objective, well document and down-to-earth. But I digress. I just bought his History of the Alphabet Podcast series. I listened to the first three episodes and found them gratifying. Worth every penny.

I find this kind of thing absolutely fascinating, and this book was no exception. It is a history of the English alphabet from its earliest versions, back when it was probably developed in its earliest form by the Egyptians, then took on a form you can start to recognize when the Phoenicians made it their own. Then by way of the Greeks, the Etruscans, the Romans, and finally the French and Anglo-Saxons, we get our familiar 26-letter alphabet. Some of the letters are 3000 years old; some are less than 200 years old. Stroud covers the histories of the letters in groups, discussing how, for instance, I, J, and Y are intimately related, as are F, U, V, and W. Fascinating stuff, especially if you're a word-nerd or are simply interested in the history of our language. This is a book I will definitely come back to multiple times. Stroud's podcast, The History of English, is the inspiration for this audiobook, and if you like this book, you should really check it out.

Kevin Stoud has done an outstanding job on his podcast about the history of the English language and this is a logical extension of his work. Despite a scholarly treatment, Kevin manages to make this topic interesting and topical It realy address a larger question, i.e, who are we and why do we speak and write the way we do?