Written in Stone

Sep 30, 2024 7:42 AM

Author:Christopher Stevens

Written in Stone

Half the world’s population speaks a language that has evolved from a single, prehistoric mother tongue. A mother tongue first spoken in Stone Age times, on the steppes of central Eurasia 6,500 years ago. It was so effective that it flourished for two thousand years. It was a language that spread from the shores of the Black Sea across almost all of Europe and much of Asia.

It is the genetic basis of everything we speak and write today – the DNA of language.

WRITTEN IN STONE combines detective work, mythology, ancient history, archaeology, the roots of society, technology and warfare, and the sheer fascination of words to explore that original mother tongue, sketching the connections woven throughout the immense vocabulary of English – with some surprising results. In snappy, lively and often very funny chapters, it uncovers the most influential and important words used by our Neolithic ancestors, and shows how they are still in constant use today – the building blocks of all our most common words and phrases.

Reviews

A first-rate, playful, moving biography

—— Roger Lewis , The Times

Elegant and even-handed biography

—— Wall Street Journal

In a hugely readable and well researched biography, Findlay paints a triple portrait of her ancestor – as a devoted family man, homosexual Catholic and cultivated spy – who turns out to be a far more engaging and fascinating subject than one would ever have imagined

—— David Robinson , Scotsman

The final revelation of Findlay’s book is that Moncrieff was far from the perfect Proustian of our imagination. Moncrieff is a lot more fun to be around than his careful sentences might suggest

—— Adam Gopnik , The New Yorker

A fascinating read

—— The Economist

Passionate, risk-taking, aesthetically conservative: a compendious biography of Proust's great interpreter reveals the paradoxes of his varied career

—— DJ Taylor , Guardian

Jean Findlay... has at last given us a full portrait of this admirable man

—— New York Review of Books

Findlay assembles a fascinating man from a strange collection of fragments with style, fittingly enough, and wit

—— Ian Bell , Herald Scotland

Eager, conscientious, affectionate… Endearingly old-fashioned in its family piety, protective partisanship and unembellished decency… A work that murmurs and sidles in a self-effacing tone… A likeable, informative and poignant book that Findlay is uniquely suited to have written

—— Richard Davenport-Hines , Literary Review

There is a tenderness with which [Findlay] cherishes even the most inconsequential events… Fitting tribute

—— Jonathan Beckman , Daily Telegraph

Entertaining

—— Financial Times

Findlay’s welcome biography reveals him to be a fascinating character… Admirably and engagingly fulfils its brief

—— Peter Parker , Oldie

A revealing portrait of an extraordinary man

—— Independent

Findlay ably amplifies her portrait with family history and evocations of the Edwardian literary scene

—— New Yorker

Respectful and sympathetic

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

Compelling

—— Clive Aslet , Country Life

A colourful treatment of a colourful life

—— Lady

Personal and affectionate tribute

—— Sally Morris , Daily Mail

Affectionate, familial tribute to this many-sided man.

—— The Catholic Herald

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