[.ca] A History of the Spanish Language (ISBN 0521011841)

Solid scholarship, sound history:
This book is extremely complete and quite well written. In the introduction we find some general observations on the nature of linguistic studies, consideration of the various peoples who have contributed to the make-up of what we know as modern Spanish, and other "humanistic" considerations. The phonology section covers all kinds of historical change (this is the section that held most interest for me). Under morphology and syntax there are a bunch of things that, as I read them, I felt like kicking myself because they had never occurred to me. The part on the lexicon is vastly instructive, with discussions of borrowings as well as changes that have taken place over time in the Latin sub-stratum of the vocabulary. There is a final part on semantics, and the author himself suggests that it may be weakest section: any discussion of the semantic development of a language is "is inevitably incomplete and is likely to be at least partially inaccurate." But here the fault is not the author's. Actually, he does and excellent job of telling what there is of the semantics story.

heavy interrupted reading:
if what you want is extreme detail, then this is the book for you. i myself found it hard to follow as every sentence is at least three lines long and interspersed with constant parenthetical notes that sometimes themselves take up three lines!

Delivers as promised:
This book delivers exactly what it promises--a thorough, well-written account of the development of modern Spanish. I espcially like the connections it makes with Latin and Arabic roots.