"The Story of the English Language" Not only, tells the story of the language, but also examines the history of the people who developed it's use.

The book will not only satisfy anglophiles, but anyone intrested in linguistics in general.

Very readable... you will want to learn other languages!

In my endeavour to optimise the learning experience and its effect, I looked up books like this one. This is what I found, the book although titled as to present itself as a practical guide isn't really a practical book. It is more of a __commentary__ on aspects of language learning, similarities and differences between languages and a friendly description of the various viewpoints towards language learning. The author does NOT present any ingenious tips or insights towards learning languages. Indeed this book is more of a summarized and written version of basic commonsensical approaches to learning languages. Amusingly, a chapter entitled 'Can I learn Spanish and Portuguese together ?' is properly summarized at the end of that chapter in one paragraph. Thus reading the whole chapter felt like a waste of time. Another chapter "Difficulties in learning French." basically DOES provide some good advice, but is filled with details which,in my opinion, are irrelevant to someone __considering__ learning the language. These details include caveats on similar-sounds, German borrowed vocabulary...etc (That may seem like useful info, but they are better placed in the French courseware itself). IMHO, the best part in the book is a list of language-learning tips provided by the late P.S.Rivetta, a language teacher in Italy. buying the book when some of the best parts are available elsewhere and where the rest of the book is more geared towards those interested in a detailed analysis of language learning doesn't make sense. The book is not bad, simply not geared towards those who might need a book titled like the one above.

It's a shame this book is out of print, because it's wonderful, and can teach useful info to the most advanced language teacher, as well as to the beginning student.