This book is an erudite and provocative examination of the rise and coming fall of English as the world's language. A lingua franca, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is a language used as a medium of communication between peoples of different languages. English has become the world's lingua franca -- the most widely spoken in human history. But its dominance has so far lasted no more than two centuries -- far shorter than the currency of many others, such as Greek, Latin, Malay, Swahili, or Persian. And now, as historian and linguist Nicholas Ostler persuasively argues in his provocative new book, English stands to be displaced as the world's language. At present, international English worldwide is spoken not by majorities, but by elites; and the countries where English is spoken natively are losing their command of the world's economic heights. Soon, the rising wealth of states such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China will shrink any international preference for English. - Jacket flap.