This work is a very important contribution to the understanding of the language and linguistic heritage of Afro-Americans, this last term being used by Alleyne to refer to all people of African descent in the Western Hemisphere. In relation to those Afro-American language varieties spoken in the Caribbean, on which this book has tended to focus, this is one of only a very small number of book-length works produced so far. The bulk of the work on Afro-Caribbean language varieties is dispersed all over the place, usually in the form of articles in academic journals.