1066 and all that... History of English Site

This is a really good web site that contains all the key information that you need to know for the context bit of the exam. Whilst it is worth looking at Beowulf, Old English, 1066 and Middle English, remember that the texts in the exam tend to come from 1500s earliest, so perhaps start looking in more detail at Shakespeare, then American, Plain and Modern.

1066andallthat

Here's a timeline from the page with the main phases of English. Click on the image to enlarge. Start with Germanic tribes invade.