"A fascinating journey through the global history of an idea, recounted with a wide-ranging erudition, a critical eye and a delightful wit. Key contributions, some of which may be unfamiliar to many readers, are neatly deconstructed and richly contextualized. The book marks a milestone in our evolving understanding of what "translation" can mean." --Andrew Chesterman, Professor Emeritus of Multilingual Communication, University of Helsinki, Finland

"This book really bridges the gap between translation theory and practice. On the theoretical side, this book is the first to bring together the various scholarly insights on translation studies that have been made over centuries, under different regimes, in different parts of the world, and in different languages. On the other hand this book is also a tool to help academics train translators better in many languages, using the scholarly insights mentioned. Therefore this publication will be invaluable for every translation scholar who also teaches practical translation." --Ilse Feinauer, Professor in Translation Studies and Afrikaans Linguistics, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa