The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (2nd rev. ed.)

Cambridge University Press claims that David Crystal’s first edition of this title in 1987 was “… the most successful introduction to language ever written”. By what criterion success may be judged is not stated. I recall my sincere admiration that one man had assembled such a wide‐ranging and interesting conspectus of a subject notorious for its impenetrability. It was a tour de force of academic popularization which deserved success in any terms. The second edition improves greatly on the original volume. It has been totally revised and updated, and has been redesigned and reset with a new typeface, to suit...