“Most introductions present syntactic theories as completed wholes. They march through a series of illustrative problems and give them final answers in an authoritative tone. This is a very different work, with more attention paid to why the field should be of interest and to where there are unanswered questions. Whether you are new to the study of syntax and wondering why anyone would be interested in minimalism, or an old hand stopping by to find out whatever happened to the ECP, this book will grab you. It is a gem." Randall Hendrick, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill "This book anchors abstract minimalist speculations to some of the fundamental empirical problems that have occupied syntactic theory for the past half century and shows how current ideas developed naturally from previous ones. It is essential reading for understanding how the Minimalist Program advances the study of human language." Robert Freidin, Princeton University