Tony Crowley uses a radical re-reading of Saussure and Bahktin to demonstrate, in four case studies, the ways in which language has been used to construct social and cultural identity in Britain and Ireland. By bringing together linguistic and critical theory with his own sharp historical and political consciousness, Tony Crowley provides a new agenda for language study--one which acknowledges the fact that writing about history has always been determined by the historical context, and by issues of race, class and gender.