It is the policy of the "Longman Linguistics Library" series to cover all aspects of linguistics, descriptive and historical, theoretical and methodological. Some of its books serve as introductions to key aspects of the subject, others are more specialized. In all cases the books are self-contained: they are intended to treat important areas in general linguistics and to be of value for a number of years. "An Introduction to Bilingualism" aims to provide a comprehensive review of the most important aspects of individual and societal bilingualism and multilingual communities, national identity and the education of bilinguals. It assumes no prior knowledge of the subject and includes three detailed case studies. All specialist concepts and technical terms have been defined and it contains a variety of linuistic illustrations; mentions many languages; and has a distinct European orientation.