David Crystal. The stories of English. New York, The Overlook Press, 2004.

In fact, the book has two introductions, because there are two stories to be told. On p.3 there is an outline of the history of English, as often recounted. The past century has seen dozens of books which have presented the language in such terms, describing stages in the emergence of what has come to be called 'Standard English'. A standard is a variety of a language which has acquired special prestige within a community. It is an important focus of study, and one which will be routinely encountered as the chronology of the present book unfolds. But an account of the standard language is only a small part of the whole story of English. The real story is much, much bigger. Accordingly, beginning on p.5, there is an introduction to this real story, which is what this book is largely about. 'Real stories' would be more accurate, for in the history of something as multifaceted as a language, there are always several trends taking place simultaneously. A richness of diversity exists everywhere, and always has, over the language's 1,500-year history; but the story of Standard English has hitherto attracted all the attention. The other stories have never been given their rightful place in English linguistic history, and it is time they were.