Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World

Empires of the Word: A Language History of the WorldNicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word is the first history of the world's great tongues, gloriously celebrating the wonder of words that binds communities together and makes possible both the living of a common history and the telling of it. From the uncanny resilience of Chinese through twenty centuries of invasions to the engaging self regard of Greek and to the struggles that gave birth to the languages of modern Europe, these epic achievements and

Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word is the first history of the world's great tongues, gloriously celebrating the wonder of words that binds communities together and makes possible both the living of a common history and the telling of it.

From the uncanny resilience of Chinese through twenty centuries of invasions to the engaging self-regard of Greek and to the struggles that gave birth to the languages of modern Europe, these epic achievements and more are brilliantly explored, as are the fascinating failures of once "universal" languages.

A splendid, authoritative, and remarkable work, it demonstrates how the language history of the world eloquently reveals the real character of our planet's diverse peoples and prepares us for a linguistic future full of surprises.--Christian Science Monitor

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: 06/27/2006
ISBN: 9780060935726
Pages: 615
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 1.10d

Review Citations: New York Times 09/03/2006 pg. 20