Originally published in 2003, Hans Keller and the BBC is a vivid portrait of the changing face of British broadcasting seen through the work of one of its most significant personalities. Starting with an examination of Keller’s early psychological interests, and the evolution of his method of ‘functional analysis’ of music (with which the BBC was intimately concerned), the book charts the huge contribution Keller made to British music during his BBC years. Also explored in detail are the successive crises of the Third Programme and its replacement by Radio 3, together with Keller’s leading role in opposing the decline of the BBC’s cultural idealism. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, much of which has never been previously examined, this study paints a striking picture of Keller’s personality in combination with the BBC’s turbulent inner workings, showing the effect of one remarkable individual on the most powerful musical institution in 20th-century Britain.

Since the publication of the first edition of the handbook Sociolinguistics/Soziolinguistik , the then young discipline has changed and developed considerably. The field has left behind its status as an interdiscipline between sociology and linguistics and is now a worldwide established field. Sociolinguistics continues to contribute to solving practical problems in areas such as language planning and standardization, language policy, as well as in language didactics and speech therapy. Moreover, new topics and areas of application have arisen from the autonomy of the discipline - these have been systematically and extensively included in the second edition of the handbook. The new overall concept depicts the regional and disciplinary representativity of sociolinguistic research while offering an encyclopedia-like useablitiy for all its readers. This includes theoretical depth and stringency for readers interested in theory, as well as methodical abundance and detail for empirical researchers. The descriptions of methods are so informative and precise that they can directly be used in the preparation of project planning. Similarly, the descriptions in the practice-oriented articles are so precise that users can accurately assess to what extent they can expect a certain sociolinguistic approach to help solve their problems. With an extensive description as its goal, the second edition of the handbook Sociolinguistics/Soziolinguistik takes into account the current standing of the discipline and the modified structure of the field.