In Basic Linguistic Theory R. M. W. Dixon provides a comprehensive guide to the nature of human languages and their description and analysis. The books are a one-stop text for undergraduate and graduate students, the triumphant outcome of a lifetime's immersion in every aspect of language, and a lasting monument to innovative scholarship. These are two wonderful books, a treasure trove of ideas and information, a reference work for many decades to come, and a must-have for any field linguist worth his or her salt. It is written in a clear and lucid style.... Dixon's ability to put forward complex ideas in understandable prose is outstanding, and the occasional anecdotal reference to his own field work situations further livens up the prose....I found these books extremely informative, exceedingly useful, and profoundly inspiring. It has given me a renewed motivation to further study the languages I'm involved with. These are books I can recommend to every graduate student in linguistics, to every linguistic field worker - those just starting out as well as those who have finished five grammars.