The introduction alone outstanding through its clear explanations of the four main groups of surnames: local surnames; surnames of relationships; occupational surnames; and nicknames. Brief pages about regional surname patterns are also enlightening.

The meat of the book is the alphabetical listing of some 16,000 English surnames, their variations, probable origins, and notes on early occurrences in the written records.

The cross-referencing between variant spellings is excellent and makes for easy navigation between variants.

A first rate resource for English genealogy and local history.