Computerized translation of natural languages is a fascinating topic, and Wilks is a veteran expert and participant in the area. It is a shame that the book makes for pretty hard reading, caused by not-so-good writing compounded with very inadequate copy editing. There is too much recycling of dated writings. Wilks gives his opinions on many facets of the subject, including the limitations and (grudgingly conceded) successes of the relatively newfangled statistical approach to automatic translation.