About this item
Highlights
- "Monumental . . . [Ostler's] massive overview of major languages in world history puts the current global spread of English in perspective.
- Author(s): Nicholas Ostler
- 640 Pages
- History, Social History
Description
About the Book
Noted linguist Nicholas Ostler brings together the tales of the world's languages in all their glorious variety in this unusual and authoritative "natural history of languages," offering a unique perspective on civilization through the ages. Maps. Charts.Book Synopsis
"Monumental . . . [Ostler's] massive overview of major languages in world history puts the current global spread of English in perspective."--Chicago Tribune
In this linguistic Thousand and One Nights, Nicholas Ostler creates the first history of the world's great languages, 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.
From the Back Cover
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.
Review Quotes
"[A] wide-ranging history of the world's languages... [Ostler] brilliantly raises questions and supplies answers or theories." -- Washington Post
"Enlightening . . . Always challenging, always instructive--at times, even startling or revolutionary." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Delicious! Ostler's book shows how certain lucky languages joined humankind in its spread across the world." -- John McWhorter
"What an extraordinary odyssey the author of this superb work embarked upon." -- Literary Review
"Covers more rambunctious territory than any other single volume I'm aware of...A wonderful ear for the project's poetry." -- John Leonard, Harper's Magazine
"Revolutionary... Executed with a giddying depth of scholarship, yet the detail is never too thick to swamp the general reader." -- Boston magazine
"True scholarship. A marvelous book, learned and instructive." -- National Review
"[A] monumental new book... Ostler furnishes many fresh insights, useful historical anecdotes and charming linguistic oddities." -- Chicago Tribune
"A work of immense erudition." -- Christian Science Monitor
"A story of dramatic reversals and puzzling paradoxes. A rich... text with many piercing observations and startling comparisons." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review