This is a short book, but that does not prevent it having multiple parts and arguments. In the main it is a linguistic study of several traditional Australian Aboriginal, or indigenous, languages. There have been specialised exhaustive and scholarly studies in the same vein - however this book is selective in examples of grammar, terms of address, lexicons, pronunciation and poetic forms, resulting in a short (182 pages ) readable volume well suited to a popular audience. As such the volume fills a need for a general interest work of its kind. The author is an accomplished senior Australian academic and researcher, who has embedded himself with speakers of old languages to record and restore their legacy. He expertise, developed over decades, informs the authentic, lively and authoritative style of the volume as a whole. It is a good read.
