There can be few subjects of such widespread interest and fascination to anyone who reads as the strange ways of languages. In this wonderfully entertaining and fascinating book, John McWhorter introduces us to 'the natural history of language': from Russonorsk, a creole of Russian and Norwegian once spoken by trading fur trappers to an Australian Aboriginal language which only has three verbs. Witty, brilliant and authoritative, this book is a must for anyone who is interested in language, as sheerly enjoyable as non-fiction gets.

John McWhorter is Associate Professor of Linguistics at UC Berkeley.

A wonderful guided tour of language, as sharp and thought-provoking as Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct and as entertaining and Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue.