This book provides one perspective on how Applied Linguistics has been defined and how the field of Applied Linguistics has developed over the last 30 years. The author addresses themes like why formal linguistic theories lost so much ground and how the interest in more socially oriented approaches grew? He also addresses 　the impact of Applied Linguistics on language teaching.

Adopting a theme-based approach, the structure of this book is largely defined by the topics covered in interviews with 40 leading international figures selected by the author including Rod Ellis, Diane Larsen-Freeman, Susan Gass, Henry Widdowson, Suresh Canagarajah and Claire Kramsch. These data are supplemented by questionnaires from a further fifty applied linguists, also selected by the author. This will be of interest to anyone studying or researching Applied Linguistics and will also be relevant to those in the related area of English Language Teaching.