After the war Robert le Page became an academic linguist. This book is based upon a privately published edition now unavailable. Robert died in 2006 but his son, a dramatist and novelist by profession, has restructured the work to include many new notes and letters written by his late father. I'm an English writer based in Scotland, UK. I was born in Jamaica and have worked in a number of tropical countries - Java, Uganda, Burma, Sudan and Nepal - with various aid agencies at difficult times, so much of what I write now reflects those experiences. I took a degree in English and Art History at Cambridge, but then trained as a tropical and paediatric nurse. I've been writing professionally for some thirty years, beginning with a stage comedy about famine in Africa; this rather unusual subject needed a fresh approach! It has been produced five or six times, including BBC radio, and theatres in New York and L.A. Since then I've had several novels published in the UK, with Finnish, Greek and US editions also. I've recently branched out into Kindle e-books too. I worked for a while in cinema and TV, and won a fellowship to the University of Southern California film school. These days I teach Creative Writing for two British universities, and I am teaching director of the St Andrews Summer School which particularly welcomes US-based students. Lastly, I'm a musician: I play with a professional early music quartet here in Scotland, performing Renaissance and early Baroque programmes. You can find out more on my website: www.jonathanfalla.co.uk. Thanks for your interest. --Jonathan Falla