Stephen Matthews

This was a good introduction to the history of the world's languages. I would have liked to have learned more about certain languages but there are always other books. The last chapter on writing crammed in too much information for me in such a short section that I skimmed it. Normally, I would have been fascinated.

A *fantastic* book that tells the story of the world's languages. More than an atlas, it is a history of how languages developed and spread, with contemporary and historical statistics. Highly recommended for anyone interested in languages!

Interesting visual presentation of where various languages are spoken, along with some additional information on language relationships, numbers of speakers, etc.

I seem to have a talent for selecting books that can only be read in small pieces; this was another of them. It was an interesting overview of the various languages and writing systems both past and present with numerous illustrations and maps. However, the text assumed a greater knowledge of linguistics than I have and that slowed me down. Also the book itself suffered from poorly constructed map keys, etc. that made it more difficult to understand. Overall this book is only average.