A History of Modern Linguistics

To any student of linguistics, anyone who works in the field: James McElvenny’s A History of Modern Linguistics will wonderfully enrich your understanding of the scientific trajectory you are part of. If you have done work on the heritage of language analysis, you will find here, as I have, a new and compelling historical arc that resituates developments across the period when linguistics was established as an academic field and took its modern form. The book gets its points across with perfect clarity, speaking directly to you whether specialist or newcomer. A tour de force, beautifully written and authoritative. -- John E. Joseph, University of Edinburgh
It is a truly wonderful book, by far the best history of Western linguistics in the pre-Chomskyan period. I recommend it to any students or correspondents who are interested in doing a project on one of the historical topics discussed. -- Talbot J. Taylor, William & Mary
Throughout his text, McElvenny never loses sight of his primary interlocutors—including readers new to the history of linguistics and humanists coming to the text from other disciplines. At the same time, he pays readers the compliment of expecting them to be able to tolerate naturally occurring complexity and multidimensional relationships across events and texts. -- Margaret Thomas * History of Humanities *
I recommend A history of modern linguistics to colleagues and students in linguistics and all allied fields. This book as a whole has a big story to tell, but it will also reward selective reading. Whatever their goals, thoughtful linguists will find questions of interest and echoes of the present day in James McElvenny’s lively, stimulating discussion of our past. -- Andrew Garrett * Language *