One People, One Language [Paperback]

When a friend of mine who is interested in stuff like anthropology, langauges etc gave this book to me, my response was 'do you think i can understand this?' After much convincing by her, I opened this book and literally didn't put it down until after i finished it! It got me intested in learning about the origin of langauages, peoples etc. Will recommend to everyone!!!

One People One Language
Rangi Ranganath
Authors OnLine Ltd
40 Castle Street, Hertford SG14 1HR, England
ISBN: 0755201736, $17.95, 284 pp, 2005

Quoting from the back cover of this book:

"The two great hoaxes of today:

1. All human life began only in Africa
2. Language and agriculture were developed in the Middle East

This book shatters both"

What is this book about, who is this man who refutes these theories, how does he substantiate his hypothesis, and who would want to read this book?

What is this book about?
Rangi Ranganth's theory, which briefly stated is:

Around Circa 200,000,000 years ago, three tectonic plates of the super landmass Antarctic split from the mother plate and started drifting carrying common elements. The largest of them drifted to the northwest and is now Africa. A smaller plated drifted northeast and is Australia. The smallest plate, in the shape of a triangle, drifted directly north towards Asia and is now India. When it crashed into Asia, it created the greatest mountain range in the world-the Himalayas, along with the Hindu Kush in northern India, the Caucasus in southern Russia, and the Alps in Europe.

Prior to the crash, Earth had a temperate climate with warm winds and spun clockwise creating western wind movement. There were no large mountains in Asia and Europe at this time. Much of the northern hemisphere was covered in ice. At the southern fringe of this ice was Siberia-a land of forest. Much of Arabia was under water. Earth was home to large reptiles called dinosaurs, which could exist only in warm climates.

After the crash, the tall Himalayas blocked the moisture-laden clouds and northeast India developed into a rainforest wherein life began-from the lemurs and bush babies to human beings. The giant dinosaurs living in north India, China and Europe perished due to the change in climate. Ramapithecus and Sivapithecus, great apes, roamed in the land of India 15,000,000 year ago.

Apes, Neanderthals, and Cro-Magnons traveled from India to Central Asia, Persia, Arabia and parts of Europe. Around 50,000 years fully developed people of Indian origin trickled into Persia, Arabia, Central Asia, ancient Anatolia, and the Pyrenees mountains in western Europe. Around 8000 B.C. a small group of Caucasians from the southeastern section of the Caucasus mountain range settled at the eastern shore of a fresh water lake in Southern Russia. A small river fed into the lake and the lake fed into the Mediterranean Sea.

It was around 5550 B.C. when the northern glacier melt caused The Great Flood-the greatest diaspora in human history. Within days, the lake had become a major sea and ocean levels rose 600 feet. The people fled in all directions and from these people developed thousands of tribes over time with different cultures and languages--mistakenly construed to be different races. When in truth, they are all one people.

Who is Rangi Ranganath?
He was born in India where he acquired a Bachelor's degree in engineering. He came to the United States in 1963 and acquired a Master's degree in engineering from Columbia University. He specializes in energy and energy conservation and is a self-employed energy consultant in New York. He has traveled to Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, and Venezuela, and is currently a citizen in the US living in Uniondale, New York.

How does he substantiate his hypothesis?
The heart and soul of this book is his in-depth study and presentation of the evolution of languages starting with the Tamil of India and including Sanskrit, Basque, Russian, Greek, Arabic, German, Italian, English, Finnish, Latin, Spanish, Persian, Urdo, Polish, Turkish, French, Irish, Armenian, Hindi, Hebrew, Japanese, Gaelic, Estonian, Lithuanian--how all these language evolved from one language.

Who would be interested in reading this book?
All cultural and physical anthropologists, anyone interested in the evolution of man and his cultures, students of linguistics, lovers of language. His theory, as presented in the book, would be clear to the average reader. However, his presentation of the evolution of language is really for serious students. I have a degree in anthropology and have studied linguistics myself, as it is a significant tool used in studying the movement, cultures, and history of man.

One People One Language-an appropriate title for this book.

Congratulations, Rangi. One certainly can appreciate the amount of hard work and dedication it took to put this book together. I wish you much success!

Reviewer: Kaye Trout - March 18, 2006 - Copyright

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see both reviews  5.0 out of 5 stars