Australia's English is at the centre of interest in English and Australian Studies. It is indispensable to an understanding of the development of English world-wide. This book develops a comprehensive, descriptive, and sociohistorical view of mainstream Australian English and of the social processes that have made it possible for it to become the national language of Australia reaching out into the Asia-Pacific region. This study is both of interest for specialists from a range of language and policy disciplines, and for non-specialists with no background in linguistics. Both will find its discursive, non-technical style appealing. Gerhard Leitner is Professor of English at the Free University, Berlin, Germany.