diff --git a/Data/List/CommonSubstring.hs b/Data/List/CommonSubstring.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Data/List/CommonSubstring.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+module Data.List.CommonSubstring where
+import Data.SuffixTree
+import Data.List
+import Data.Ord
+
+-- | This is the suffixtree based implementation.
+-- | If there are multiple longest substrings, which one is returned
+-- | is undefined.
+
+longestSubstring ::(Eq a, Ord a) => [a] -> [a] -> [a]
+longestSubstring first second = maximumBy (comparing length)
+                                     $ map (longestMatch $ construct second)
+                                     $ tails first
+  where longestMatch :: Eq a => STree a -> [a] -> [a]
+        longestMatch Leaf _ = []
+        longestMatch (Node edges) candidate =
+          maximumBy (comparing length) $ map (prefixMatch candidate) edges
+
+        prefixMatch :: Eq a => [a] -> Edge a -> [a]
+        prefixMatch candidate (p, tree)
+          | p' `isPrefixOf` candidate = p' ++ longestMatch tree (drop (length p') candidate)
+          | otherwise = commonSubstring p' candidate
+          where p' = prefix p
+        commonSubstring (a:as) (b:bs)
+          | a==b = a:commonSubstring as bs
+          | otherwise = []
+        commonSubstring _ _ = []
diff --git a/Data/List/SlowSubstring.hs b/Data/List/SlowSubstring.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Data/List/SlowSubstring.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+module Data.List.SlowSubstring(longestSubstring,sharedPrefix) where
+import Data.List(sortBy,tails)
+import Data.Ord
+
+longestSubstring ::(Eq a, Ord a) => [a] -> [a] -> [a]
+longestSubstring first second = head $ reverse $ sortBy (comparing length) comparisons
+  where comparisons = concatMap (\x -> map (sharedPrefix x) $ tails second) (tails first)
+
+sharedPrefix :: (Eq a, Ord a) => [a] -> [a] -> [a]
+sharedPrefix (a:as) (b:bs)
+  | a==b = a:sharedPrefix as bs
+  | otherwise = []
+sharedPrefix _ _ = []
diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+Copyright (c) 2013, Mark Wotton
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+
+    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+
+    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+      with the distribution.
+
+    * Neither the name of Mark Wotton nor the names of other
+      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
+      from this software without specific prior written permission.
+
+THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
diff --git a/Setup.hs b/Setup.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Setup.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import Distribution.Simple
+main = defaultMain
diff --git a/bench/BenchAll.hs b/bench/BenchAll.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench/BenchAll.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+module Main where
+import Criterion.Main
+
+import qualified Data.List.CommonSubstring as Suffix
+import qualified Data.List.SlowSubstring as Slow
+
+first padlen = padding ++ "bbbbbbbb" ++ padding
+  where  padding = concat $ replicate padlen  "abcd"
+
+second padlen = padding ++ "bbbbbbb" ++ padding
+  where  padding = concat (replicate padlen "efgh")
+
+main = defaultMain [
+        bgroup "string-similarity"
+         [ bench "slow" $ whnf (Slow.longestSubstring $ first 100) (second 100),
+           bench "common" $ whnf (Suffix.longestSubstring $ first 100) (second 100),
+           bench "common" $ whnf (Suffix.longestSubstring $ first 1000) (second 1000),
+           bench "common" $ whnf (Suffix.longestSubstring $ first 10000) (second 10000)
+         ]
+        ]
diff --git a/string-similarity.cabal b/string-similarity.cabal
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/string-similarity.cabal
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+-- Initial string-similarity.cabal generated by cabal init.  For further
+-- documentation, see http://haskell.org/cabal/users-guide/
+
+name:                string-similarity
+version:             0.1.0.0
+synopsis:            longest common substring
+description:         algorithms for finding the longest common substring in a set of documents
+homepage:            http://github.com/mwotton/string-similarity
+license:             BSD3
+license-file:        LICENSE
+author:              Mark Wotton
+maintainer:          mwotton@gmail.com
+category:            Data
+build-type:          Simple
+cabal-version:       >=1.8
+
+source-repository head
+  type: git
+  location: https://github.com/mwotton/string-similarity.git
+
+
+library
+  exposed-modules:  Data.List.CommonSubstring,
+                    Data.List.SlowSubstring
+  -- other-modules:
+  ghc-options: -O2
+  build-depends:       base >= 4 && <= 5,
+                       suffixtree
+
+test-suite tests
+  type:            exitcode-stdio-1.0
+  ghc-options:     -Wall
+  hs-source-dirs:  test/
+  main-is:         Spec.hs
+  build-depends:   base >= 4 && <= 5
+                   , hspec
+                   , QuickCheck
+                   , bytestring
+                   , string-similarity
+
+benchmark bench-lcs
+  type:             exitcode-stdio-1.0
+  hs-source-dirs:   bench
+  main-is:          BenchAll.hs
+  build-depends:    base,
+                    criterion,
+                    string-similarity
+  ghc-options:      -O2
+                    -fmax-simplifier-iterations=10
+                    -fdicts-cheap
+                    -fspec-constr-count=6
diff --git a/test/Spec.hs b/test/Spec.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Spec.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+-- file test/Spec.hs
+{-# OPTIONS_GHC -F -pgmF hspec-discover #-}
