From Simon & Schuster, Origins of the English Language is Joseph M. Williams' exploration of social and linguistic history. In this book, author Joseph Williams presents a unique social and linguistic history as he explains the ways in which culture, education, class, and race affect language use and what changes in grammar reveal about the changes in our social lives. Joseph M. Williams was a professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago where he promoted clarity in writing for many years. He authored several books on language and writing.