Autumn 2009 Catalogue 4 pdfing:1 - Yale University Press

22 History/LanguageThe most thoroughly researchedand accurate history ofCzechoslovakia to appear in EnglishCzechoslovakiaThe State That FailedMary HeimannThis book, the most thoroughly researched and accurate history ofCzechoslovakia to appear in English, tells the story of the country fromits founding in 1918 to partition in 1992—from fledgling democracythrough Nazi occupation, Communist rule, invasion by the SovietUnion to, at last, democracy again.The common Western view of Czechoslovakia has been that of a smallnation which was sacrificed at Munich in 1938, betrayed to the Sovietsin 1948 and which rebelled heroically against the repression of theSoviet Union during the Prague Spring of 1968. Mary Heimanndispels these myths and shows how intolerant nationalism and anunhelpful sense of victimhood led Czech and Slovak authorities todiscriminate against minorities, compete with the Nazis to persecuteJews and Gypsies and pave the way for the Communist police state.She also reveals Alexander Dubcek, held to be a national hero andstandard-bearer for democracy, as an unprincipled apparatchik. Wellwritten, revisionist and accessible, this groundbreaking book shouldbecome the standard history of Czechoslovakia for years to come.Mary Heimann is Senior Lecturer in the History Department at theUniversity of Strathclyde, Scotland.October400 pp. 234x156mm. 20 b/w illus.ISBN 978-0-300-14147-4 £25.00*Renowned linguist Claude Hagègeoffers innovative perspectives on thelife and death of languagesOctober368 pp. 210x140mm.ISBN 978-0-300-13733-0 £20.00*On the Death and Life of LanguagesClaude HagègeTranslated by Jody GladdingTwenty-five languages die each year; at this pace, half the world’s fivethousand languages will disappear within the next century. In thistimely book, Claude Hagège seeks to make clear the magnitude of thecultural loss represented by the crisis of language death.By focusing on the relationship of language to culture and the world ofideas, Hagège shows how languages are themselves crucial repositoriesof culture; the traditions, proverbs and knowledge of our ancestorsreside in the language we use. His wide-ranging examination covers allcontinents and language families to uncover not only how languagesdie, but also how they can be revitalised—for example in theremarkable case of Hebrew. In a striking metaphor, Hagège likenslanguages to bonfires of social behaviour that leave behind sparks evenafter they die; from these sparks languages can be rekindled and madeto live again.Claude Hagège is the Chair of Linguistic Theory at the Collège de Francein Paris. He is the author of more than fifteen books and the recipient ofnumerous awards and honours, including the Gold Medal from CentreNational de la Recherche Scientifique.An Odile Jacob BookTranslation rights: Editions Odile Jacob, Paris