<i>A History of the English Language</i> is in many ways a traditional textbook. [...] is undergraduate-friendly in its often chatty tone, with highlighted keywords, questions, paper projects, exercises, and answers to them. [...] The text is enriched by numerous tables, figures, and references to internet resources; the inclusion of some cartoons and original drawings by the author fits well with the relatively informal style of the presentation.

- Donka Minkova, UCLA, in Language 85(4): 893-906,

Another student-friendly element are the exercises throughout the book, which are generally followed by model answers. The point of the model answers is to provide feedback to the students. There is no implication that there is only one acceptable answer to a question. Students will also like the ‘special topics’ despite all affirmative nods to a descriptive approach they still expect a grammar class to tell them ‘what is right’, or at least `why some people think that some things are right and others are not’.

- Nina Rojina in Language, 2004,

This is a book that is geared towards students who will not take many linguistics classes and who need a practical introduction to analyzing English sentences. What makes this book stand out are the author's conscious choices to keep the book student-friendly without oversimplifying the material that is discussed. [...] Van Gelderen's focused contribution to the textbook shelf for English grammar classes is highly welcome. It balances linguistic argumentation and practical answers in a student-friendly manner and draws a clear line between what can be achieved in a one-semester introductory class and what should be left to further exploration.

- Anja Wanner, University of Wisconsin at Madison, on Linguist List, 2003,