I find this a very wordy book - as though the author, because he is an insider, is too much aware of all the ifs and buts - but still finds the need to include all of them in order to present the 'complete' picture. Perhaps this was a feature of the time the book was written. Then, part of its complexity arises from its content as descriptions of other people's work. Nowhere have I noticed concise statements of his own conclusions. Perhaps that is inevitable. ( )

If you want to know why you should know something about linguistics, Crystal tells you here. ( )

Linguistics