In this short monograph, addressed to a general audience of novices in the study of language and society, Boutet takes up the challenge of presenting this scientific field in a concise yet informative manner. She successfully meets the challenge, enhancing her lively discussion of basic concepts with numerous examples drawn from past or current research and from her own observational data. Technical jargon has been avoided as much as possible, and a pleasant layout of the various sections (as well as a good cross-referencing system) contribute to make the subject matter accessible to the reader. The book also contains useful bibliographic references and suggestions for further reading.