When I was a TA, this book was in very heavy use across departments as a recommended add-on for undergrad classes. (Say you're teaching Roman Civilization. You

When I was a TA, this book was in very heavy use across departments as a recommended add-on for undergrad classes. (Say you're teaching Roman Civilization. You plan to assign at least 2 papers and probably also some short writing assignments. Recommend the Williams, prod them towards it, and discuss it a little - even if you don't have tons of time in your class to teach writing.) All great, and I liked the book quite a lot. However, the publisher decided to max out on the book's popularity. First, there were quickly about 4-6 (slightly different) versions of it in print, all at the same time. Second, they would release a new version of the main edition (Style: Toward Clarity and Grace) every year. Once they realized it was a textbook, the price leapt up and up. I suppose it's just supply and demand, but it made it very hard to get students to buy the book (once it went from $10 or $12 to $35), if it was recommended and not required. tl;dr Buy the 1995 edition for $8.93 on Amazon, not the 10th edition for $35. I'm reasonably confident that the essential advice and meat of the book is the same.