Lost by translation- forked tongues in the fight for North America

This book is aimed at the general reader who has an interest in both languages and in Native American history and culture. It concentrates on the encounter between invading Europeans and the native peoples of the continent, examining the role played by language in that confrontation through the lens of significant individuals and incidents. Amongst those discussed are such famous figures as Columbus, Sequoyah, Custer, Crazy Horse, Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea and Sitting Bull.

The book covers the period from 1492 up until 1890. It considers problems of translation, problems with translators and the differing values and expectations that had to be translated from one language- and one culture- to another. The book draws heavily upon contemporary sources to argue that the white conquest of America was a co-operative effort in which language performed a vital role. It also gives illustrations of the nature and workings of various North American languages, including plains sign language, smoke signalling and pictographs. Additionally, there is discussion of native swearing, loanwords and pidgins.

The book is a history of the white settlement of North America, a survey of the amazing linguistic diversity of the continent and a study of how translation and language interact during war and political struggle. The text is 241 pages long.

The author, John Kruse, has long been interested in linguistics and Native American history and culture. He has written other books on language history including The Native American languages- an introduction (2007) and The Etruscan language- a brief introduction (2008).