This authoritative reference book focuses on the extant languages of Europe, but I especially appreciate the fact that it also includes now extinct languages (languages known to have been spoken in Europe in the past). The articles provide basic information on the origins and historical development of each language (while for the living languages, the contemporary position/condition of the same are also considered); an added bonus is that each of the articles also lists bibliographical information for further study. A must-have reference for anyone interested in linguistics. ( )

Just what it says -- a survey of the languages of Europe, alphabetically arranged, with additional articles on multilingual countries, scripts, language groups, and so on For each language, there is an article focussing on the history and dialects of the language: for phonology, morphology and grammer, look elsewhere. ( )