[.ca] Modern Chinese: History and Sociolinguistics (ISBN 0521645727)

History of Modern Chinese:
Those interested in the history and development of modern Chinese will find this a must read. It covers the written and spoken language and has some interesting, little known points, such as the influence of Japanese on modern Chinese and the liberal policies of Beijing towards dialects. He also talks about Taiwan and Singapore and the status of the various Chinese "languages". Reading this book you realize what a modern language Putonghua or Guoyu is in many ways. Informative yet easy to read this belongs on the bookshelf of any serious Chinese student. I hope Chen Ping is working on a follow up devoted to the spoken language and it's varieties.