On Amazon Prime Great Courses Signature Collection I watched author John McWhorter present a course on World Language Families and this drew my attention to this literary work. McWhorter is a very intelligent polyglot and makes the study of global languages an interesting and fun-filled adventure. In this book we look at the vast array of human languages across the world – the 6000 or so tongues that are still in existence. We look at how these languages have evolved, the dialects that they morph into, the differences between language and dialect and also try to reconstruct the original global language of Adam and Eve. The examples of linguistic use are wide-ranging, from global super-tongues such as English, French and German, through to obscure languages such as Marathi, Tok Pisin, Cornish and Somali. Throughout the book McWhorter introduces anecdotes of popular culture to lighten the mood, from South Park to McDonalds adverts. The book has enough detail to satisfy the most learned linguist and equally is general enough to be accessible to a non-specialist lay reader. It stands out as a great work and leaves a lasting memory and for such a vast subject material McWhorter covers it well and also succinctly. I will endeavour to seek out more of the author’s work on world languages and would recommend this book to anyone with the remotest interest in our planet’s communication.