Michael Hammond (1999). The phonology of English: a prosodic optimality-theoretic approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xvi+368.

Hammond's book is the volume on English in the series The Phonology of the World's Languages; and therein lies an inevitable problem. Writing a contribution for a series with as many definite articles as this one, and on English, which like it or not, and with no disrespect to the less attended-to languages of the world, has been the focus of quite disproportionate phonological attention, is for anyone a rather daunting task. This means that there is even more literature to review than usual in a book of this kind, and more controversies to be embroiled in; and in consequence, there will inevitably be restrictions in coverage. What matters, then, is that the author must set out what he intends to do, be consistent with that, and explain his choices in terms of those entirely inevitable restrictions. Although this book has many good points, it often seems that Hammond does not actually carry through his stated intentions, or justify the choices he has made as cogently as might be hoped.