A scholar with a working knowledge of twenty-six languages, Nicholas Ostler has degrees from Oxford University in Greek, Latin, philosophy, and economics, and a Ph.D. in linguistics from MIT, where he studied under Noam Chomsky. He lives in Bath, England.
"[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
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