January 15, 2006

Book 1: Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World

Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World
Nicholas Ostler

I started reading this book over Christmas Break, and insofar as I can remember, it remains my greatest accomplishment of the period. I thought that, in general, the book was very interesting, although it got a little too academic for me in some spots. It was hard to find Ostler's general thesis seeing as the book is more of a sporadic study of the rise and fall of different languages (and, consequently, their empires) than a comprehensive narrative. All in all, I was entertained by this book and I learned a lot about some obscure history (particularly that of the ancient Middle East) even though the author's use of linguistic terms clouded my understanding a bit. I was disappointed as the book was not what I expected, but it was a good read nonetheless.

Grade: B-

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