political history of speakers of Greek. It should be said at once that this is an extremely useful collection of material and analysis, well-informed, up-to-date, and surprisingly detailed, essential reading for all those interested in Greek. (…) The book is divided into three sections by conventional dates (the foundation and fall of Constantinople) and seventeen chapters, of which three have a largely historical focus while the rest are more concerned with language. There are more than 200 subheadings at four levels, which are used for innumerable (and essential) cross-references. Within each section the chapters represent different subjects, which are defined by three principal criteria: date, language level (e.g. ‘Byzantine Belles Lettres’) and the written/spoken divide (e.g. ‘Written Greek in the Turkish Period’). The chapters, apart from those which are historical, usually include the following: a historical framework, a well-chosen series of brief texts supplied with a pronunciation guide and two translations (word-for-word and more conventional), and linguistic analysis using a range of the methodologies of historical linguistics. (…) H.’ Book is an exciting experiment in finding a totalling narrative in which to integrate linguistic history usually treated as a series of details. Its biggest problems derive from the limitations of the book form in which it is presented.’ (MICHAEL JEFFREYS in The Classical Review (New Series), 1999, pp.137-139).