Applied linguistics embodies a kaleidoscope of disciplines, theoretical approaches, research paradigms, and beliefs about practice. Its diversity is reflected in this festschrift honoring Henry Widdowson. The volume contains the contributions of 27 authors from five continents and, like the honoree's own body of work, represents a wide range of topics. In their introductory chapter, the editors outline the disciplines they have chosen to include: assessment, corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, language teaching, literature, second language acquisition, and the relationship among theory, research, and practice. As this list reveals, other areas of applied linguistics are notably absent: first language literacy, language planning and policy, and translation, among others. Omissions are no doubt necessary in order to compile a volume of manageable size; in spite of these omissions, readers will find the contributions absorbing and take pleasure in tracing thematic threads throughout. A sampling of major themes is outlined here.