Thomas Pyles (1905–1980)

This textbook on the history of the English language focusses more on the language than on the history. That is, the key approach, particularly in the sections on early and middle English, is linguistic analysis that examines the way in which the language worked in various periods, not the broader historical context in which it developed. This is a textbook, and the focus on the "facts" of the language may be ideal for those who want to construct a course which will shed a lot of light on linguistics in general, as well as on the development of English in particular. For a general reader, however -- at least for this general reader -- the focus on linguistics makes the book less interesting than some other works in the field. I found Baugh's "A History of the English Language" considerably more rewarding.… (meer)