This book is much more than a synthesis of the research findings of a network of scholars. In unprecedented clarity and detail, it lays bare the ideas, debates and contradictions underpinning multilingualism as a strategic aim of the European project and as a scientific enterprise. It offers a meticulously argued critique of language policy regimes in Europe and advocates an ambitious and rigorously conceptualized framework for integrating a wide range of disciplinary perspectives in the advancement of a comprehensive research agenda. European Multilingualism is therefore both a brilliant analysis of current challenges and a challenge to future research.Patrick Stevenson, University of Southampton, UKEU policy somehow has to reconcile multilingual diversity with the need for unity but this has been hindered by the diverse ways in which the concept of multilingualism itself is understood. This book provides a much needed coherent view of European multilingualism based on a critical appraisal of this conceptual diversity. Henry Widdowson, University of Vienna, Austria
