Francoise Waquet is director of research emeritus at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Latin, or the Empire of a Sign is the opening volume in a highly praised sequence of books on the social worlds of intellectuals, continued most recently with Une histoire emotionnelle du savoir (2019).
A splendid book: original in method, suggestive in argument, and a pleasure to read. -- Anthony Grafton * London Review of Books * ... [a] fascinating and lively survey of the place of Latin western culture during the past 400 years. * Independent * ... richly researched and delightful ... with scholars of Waquet's generosity and ability, the old language might yet have a future. * New Criterion * ... detailed and wide-ranging ... * Los Angeles Times Book Review * ... an eloquent obituary ... * Spectator * Fascinating. -- A.C. Grayling * Guardian, Summer Choice * Latin is dead and this book is its epitaph ... it is the merit and interest of Waquet's survey that she finds Latin not only deployed for the liturgy, but also to describe things carnal, pornographic, or otherwise shameful. * Daily Telegraph * A wonderful survey. -- A. N. Wilson