A Social History of English is a history of the English language that utilizes the techniques, insights and concerns of sociolinguistics. Written in a non-technical way, it takes into account standardization, pidginism, bi- and multi-lingualism and the issues of language maintenance, language loyalty and linguistic variation.

This edition has been fully revised including: updated information about ''New Englishes'' in different parts of the world, a selection of texts from Anglo-Saxon to the present, a theoretical postscript outlining some problems in writing the history of English and topics for further study. All terms and concepts are explained as they are introduced, and linguistic examples are chosen for their accessibility and intelligibility to the general reader.