History in English Words

Lindisfarne Books, March 2002. Paper Back. New. Only a genius of the most eccentric and extraordinary kind could successfully write a Book like this, which while investigting the etymological roots of well over a thousands words at the same time traces the history of human self-consciousness from classical to modern times. The paradox that emerges is worth considerable reflection: while modern science may have removed man from the center of the universe, the modern sensibility has become increasingly self-centered. To quote the author: ''In our language alone, not to speak of its many companions, the past history of humanity is spread out in an imperishable map, just as the history of the mineral earth lies embedded in the layers of its outer crust... Language has preserved for us the inner, living history of our soul. It reveals the evolution of consciousness.'' 240 pp.