This textbook provides a comprehensive, balanced introduction to syntactic theory. The author shows how the diversity of syntactic theories, which at first seems confusing, can be approached by examining how each deals with conflicting data. This approach helps the student to understand how syntactic theories are related to each other, what they necessarily have in common, and in what ways they actually differ. Theories introduced here include Transformational Generative Grammar, Relational Grammar, Word Grammar, Functional Grammar, and Optimality Theory, amongst others. The textbook includes chapter summaries, suggestions for further reading, exercises and a glossary of terms, which make this text an essential student-friendly resource. The appendix contains parallel data from six languages, which can be used for analysis or reference. "An Introduction to Syntactic Theory" will be essential reading for undergraduate students of linguistics, whether they are new to the subject or studying it at a more advanced level.