‘This is easily the most useful, and engaging introduction to pragmatics that is currently available. Senft discusses the canonical topics of the discipline but he discusses them, always in an exemplary and rigorous manner, against their wider intellectual backgrounds. This combination of sympathetic, critical and illuminating exposition of the central topics and their relationships makes this book a terrific companion for all undergraduate and postgraduate students (and some of their teachers too).’ Ken Turner, University of Brighton, UK This book is highly systematic and orderly, with a new principled approach to the major themes of pragmatics and the central topics that have paraded under that banner. Arrayed against the familiar texts in the field, the book is more heavily grounded in anthropological fieldwork and splendidly provided with suggested and potentially thought-provoking exercises for ambitious students at all levels. I am eager to try it out with some of my own.' John Haviland, University of California, San Diego, USA 'Senft’s Understanding Pragmatics is a reasonably short, yet very rich, introduction to the field of pragmatics [...]constitutes a valuable resource for anyone interested in the theoretical and epistemological underpinnings of pragmatic research.' Steve Oswald, Journal of Pragmatics