Essential

McKeown, J.C. (2010). Classical Latin: An Introductory Course. (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett).

Reference

See this PDF  for full details of additional reference works. The following may be helpful if you want to check features of the language:

• Morwood, J. (1999) Latin Grammar. Oxford University Press.
• Kennedy, B.H. (1965). Kennedy’s Revised Latin Primer. (London: Longman).

Older editions can often be found second hand: these are fine.

One of the greatest challenges in learning Latin is getting to grips with technical grammar, as most native speakers do not learn English grammar from a technical perspective (if English is your second language, it is possible that you actually have a bonus here!). If you want to brush up on your English grammar as a means to improving your Latin grammar, I recommend:

• Goldman, N. & Szymanski, L., (2004). English Grammar for Students of Latin: The Study Guide for Those Learning Latin. 3^rd ed. (Ann Arbor, MI: Olivia & Hill).

Dictionaries

If you want to buy a dictionary (which is not necessary for Latin I), the following are recommended:

• Simpson, P. Cassell’s Latin Dictionary: Latin/English, English/Latin. (various publishers).
• Lewis, C.T. (1963). Elementary Latin Dictionary. (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
• Morwood, J. (2005) Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary. (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

The development of the language

If you are interested in following up the history of Latin, you will find the following a good place to start. These will be of particular interest to those studying Italian alongside Latin.

• Janson, T. (2004) A Natural History of Latin
• Solodow, J.B. (2010) Latin Alive [available as an e-book]
• Ostler, N. (2007) Ad infinitum: a Biography of Latin
• Allen, W.S. (2008) Vox Latina 2nd Edition