It all started with a conversation in Kenya when the author realized that the African concept for tribe is people that share the same language. Because they share the same cultural references and behaviours. And that’s an incredible approach. You can have tribes that form a nation (like Portugal) or different tribes that share a country (like Belgium or Spain). Because if you look at history, languages (and what they symbolize) have a key role in the formation of tribes, countries and nations but also in the clash between tribes. The disintegration of Christianity, the construction of the State of Israel, the African case, the cold war or the recent adoption of Mandarin as the only language in China are some of the examples. Pax English is not about linguistic. It’s about languages and the part they have in our past, present and future as a society. And to do that the book crosses different areas of knowledge and sciences. From history to economy, from sociology to neurosciences. Because to understand how languages parish or triumph we need to comprehend how words, narratives and ideas spread from one tribe to another.

The world has more than 7000 languages. UNESCO tell us that half will be extinct by the end of the century. Maybe its good news. Lesser languages mean lesser tribes. Lesser cultural diversity. But cultural diversity is also the mother of all conflicts. When more and more people learn English, they also access a common cultural matrix being formed since 1946 where we share common values and the idea of a pan tribal cooperation. Maybe English is the dream of Doctor Esperanto. If that’s the case we are heading for a world with one tribe. Living in a Pax English.

During the edition of “Pax English”, mistakes, typos and misprints were found. These are pretty benign errors.

However, there are typos that might change the meaning of the message in the book. Below you can find a list of bloops that our team is working on:

• Portuguese 1st edition, page 183; in the table, where you read “bombordo”, you should read “estibordo”. Where you read “estibordo” you should read “bombordo”. Where you read “proa” you should read “popa” and where you read “popa” you should read “proa”.
• Portuguese 1st edition, page 265, should read “talvez por isso, a Bíblia tenha demorado a ser aceite…”.
• Portuguese 1st edition, pages 96, 98, 115, 153, 224, 287, 405, 408, 456, 462, 484: cross-notes missing and currently under verification.

If you find errors, you can email us at Este endereço de email está protegido contra piratas. Necessita ativar o JavaScript para o visualizar.. We will try to fix typos in ebooks fairly quickly, and the corrections will appear in the next print run.