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Title: Not all that glitters...
Review: Yes, the book is heralded by many. Yes, it is still being used in the Linguistics and English departments of many prominent universities today. However, does that necessarily mean it's all that great???It is highly informative and fairly accurate. However, the book is tainted with linguacentric opinions laced here and there that do not help to educate and enlighten students to the inherent equality of all languages and dialects. A pity!I haven't yet found a perfect text, but perhaps Williams' "Origins of the English Language" (available from Amazon ISBN 0029344700) is a better choice for both students and teachers. It is also significantly less expensive.
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