Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue (John McWhorter)

I really enjoyed this investigation into the history of English grammar and the various influences that, apparently, made it what it is today. Since I'm not a linguist, I grew tired in a few places where the author became strident in his condemnation of the traditional story, but this detracted very little from the weird and wonderful story he wove. English is a Germanic language, but has several quirks of grammar different from all the others in this family, such as the "meaningless do." We say "You like pasta," but also "You do not like pasta" and "Do you like pasta?" The do in these sentences has no meaning, and almost no other languages in their world require this. Why is it there? McWhorter thinks he knows, and he makes a good case. I found it fascinating.