Noam Chomsky (Penguin Modern Masters) Paperback – July 27, 1978

This is a small gem of a book. Lyons writes with admirable clarity and succinctness. Lyons had the benefit of having had Chomsky read his manuscript and offer suggestions, and the final product received Chomsky's endorsement. Chomskyan linguistics has undergone substantial revisions since 1978, the year of this book's publication. However, it's still the case that any serious student of linguistics needs to understand the origins and development of Chomskyan linguistics, and not just its present location. This book is a superb introduction to the first twenty years of Chomsky's work.