English: History, Diversity and Change

The story of English is often presented as one of progress: from a set of Germanic dialects to a fully-fledged national and international language. The emphasis in this book is on the diversity of English throughout its history and the changing social meanings of different varieties of English.

'The editors present a wealth of evidence of the variety and diversity of English's forms and functions. The book is packed with maps, manuscripts, texts, photographs, graphs, all manner of fascinating information about the English language... an excellent, challenging read for anyone interested in the story of English.' - Rebecca Bunting, Spoken English

'The book's colourful, varied contents will no doubt attract students of Linguistics, Literature and everyone interested in the English language. The authors have done an excellent job in providing this well researched material and keeping the jargon to a minimum, thus making it accessible to every reader.' - Language International