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Summary/Abstract: Bernard Spolsky`s book Sociolinguistics provides a brief but comprehensive introduction to sociolinguistics, making links with related disciplines such as history, politics, and gender styles. The book is organized on four levels: the survey part, the readings part, the references part and the glossary part. This structure is due to the fact that the book is included in the “Oxford Introduction to Language Study” series on one hand, and provides facility in reading to the expert but also to the regular reader on the other. The survey part is an up-to-date overview of the area concerned, dates are chronologically managed and key concepts explained. In this sense is simple, but not simplistic. The readings part is meant for those who want to pursue the subject, the readings providing the necessary transition. For here the reader is presented with texts extracted from the specialist literature which draw attention upon key points in the field and the manner in which they are presented in the source texts. The references part is one way of moving into more detailed issues: the books and articles mentioned here facilitate further reading and help the reader create links to different aspects studied in the survey part. The glossary part undertakes the terms written in bold in the survey part and give their special or technical definition (the meanings are made clear in the context, but they are also explained in the glossary). Having such a practical and organized design, the book offers a lot of information to those who are interested in specific parts of the field.

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