'Spolsky and Cooper weave a rich brocade ... this is a well written and engaging book. The historical chapters are richly written; the reports of modern studies are serviceably written without overreliance on jargon. The book is carefully produced ... the authors have skillfully woven together the numerous interesting themes they have chosen into a handsome volume that I highly recommend.'Loraine K. Obler, City University of New York and Emerson College

• The sociolinguistics of the Old City in the 1980s; Jewish multilingualism; the sociolinguistics of Old Jerusalem - non-Jewish languages in the late 19th century; the sociolinguistics of Old Jerusalem - Jewish languages in the late 19th century; the revitalization and spread of Hebrew; the language of signs; language choice in the market-place; reflections of language planning; language learning; the spread of Hebrew among Arabic speakers.

'Spolsky and Cooper weave a rich brocade ... this is a well written and engaging book. The historical chapters are richly written; the reports of modern studies are serviceably written without overreliance on jargon. The book is carefully produced ... the authors have skillfully woven together the numerous interesting themes they have chosen into a handsome volume that I highly recommend.'Loraine K. Obler, City University of New York and Emerson College

• The sociolinguistics of the Old City in the 1980s; Jewish multilingualism; the sociolinguistics of Old Jerusalem - non-Jewish languages in the late 19th century; the sociolinguistics of Old Jerusalem - Jewish languages in the late 19th century; the revitalization and spread of Hebrew; the language of signs; language choice in the market-place; reflections of language planning; language learning; the spread of Hebrew among Arabic speakers.