If I could only recommend one book on interpreters throughout history, this book, by Ruth Roland, would be it!

Don’t let the size of this book fool you — it’s absolutely filled with amazing facts about interpreters who have worked in nearly every time period and region of the world. Not only that, but it shows that interpreters have been essential to international diplomacy, and in fact, were essential to diplomacy long before the concept of “nation” really existed.

The book focuses primarily on North American and Europe, but also contains interesting stories from South America and Asia as well. No matter which part of the world interests you, if you love history, you’ll find this book fascinating. You can search inside it using Google.

See: The Interpreter’s Launch Pad Issue #4, September  2011