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"""...a compelling analysis of the way language was used in the political construction of the horrifying historical events of September 11th. Silberstein's analysis gives us a fresh look at the juggernaut of world politics as it is constructed in the linguistic actions of the media, of world leaders, and of the ordinary people who experience world events."" - Ron Scollon, Georgetown University ""The brief study, War of Words, by Sandra Silberstein, an 'applied linguist,' offers shrewd analysis of the language used after September 11. She shrewdly analyzes how the comments by Peter Jennings while broadcasting the service on September 14 at the National Cathedral helped define the event as one of the 'great national occasions."" - Columbia Journalism Review ""This isn't exactly foreign policy, but close enough. Sandra Silberstein...examines how language has been torqued since the terrorist attacks. The president, formerly the butt of jokes, becomes the commander-in-chief, to give just one example. She concludes that the national tragedy has been manipulated into a consumer opportunity--a charge from which the proliferation of 9/11 books is not exempt."" - Vancouver Sun ' ... the book presents a timely discussion of issues of great importance to America, in particular, and the whole world, in general ... the book is informative and well-organised.' - Discourse and Society"

<p>. ..a compelling analysis of the way language was used in the political construction of the horrifying historical events of September 11th. Silberstein's analysis gives us a fresh look at the juggernaut of world politics as it is constructed in the linguistic actions of the media, of world leaders, and of the ordinary people who experience world events. - Ron Scollon, Georgetown University<p> The brief study, War of Words, by Sandra Silberstein, an 'applied linguist, ' offers shrewd analysis of the language used after September 11. She shrewdly analyzes how the comments by Peter Jennings while broadcasting the service on September 14 at the National Cathedral helped define the event as one of the 'great national occasions. - Columbia Journalism Review<p> This isn't exactly foreign policy, but close enough. Sandra Silberstein...examines how language has been torqued since the terrorist attacks. The president, formerly the butt of jokes, becomes the commander-in-chief, to give just

<p>. ..a compelling analysis of the way language was used in the political construction of the horrifying historical events of September 11th. Silberstein's analysis gives us a fresh look at the juggernaut of world politics as it is constructed in the linguistic actions of the media, of world leaders, and of the ordinary people who experience world events. - Ron Scollon, Georgetown University <p> The brief study, War of Words, by Sandra Silberstein, an 'applied linguist, ' offers shrewd analysis of the language used after September 11. She shrewdly analyzes how the comments by Peter Jennings while broadcasting the service on September 14 at the National Cathedral helped define the event as one of the 'great national occasions. - Columbia Journalism Review <p> This isn't exactly foreign policy, but close enough. Sandra Silberstein...examines how language has been torqued since the terrorist attacks. The president, formerly the butt of jokes, becomes the commander-in-chief, to give just one example. She concludes that the national tragedy has been manipulated into a consumer opportunity--a charge from which the proliferation of 9/11 books is not exempt. - Vancouver Sun <p> <p>

This is vital reading today. At a time when hysteria is bubbling below the surface, Sandra Silberstein is cool, analytical, highly readable - and sane. <br>-The Guardian <br> War of Words is a compelling analysis of the way language was used in the political construction of the horrifying historical events of September 11th. Silberstein's analysis gives us a fresh look at the juggernaut of world politics as it is constructed in the linguistic actions of the media, of world leaders, and of the ordinary people who experience world events.. <br>-Ron Scollon, Georgetown University <br> A professor of English at the University of Washington, Silberstein probes the stories that were repeated after the attack for clues to changes in the national character, concluding that sentimental appeals manipulated a national tragedy into a consumer opportunity. A metaphor for the book explosion?. <br>-Los Angeles Times <br> Linguist Silberstein argues persuasively that 9/11 was not just about events but also about the words that shaped our understanding of and response to them. She carefully dissects America's renderings of the terrorist attacks in presidential speeches, media texts, and eyewitness accounts. Before a single bomb was dropped on Afghanistan, words had made an 'act of terror' a 'war' (this generation's 'Pearl Harbor'), turned New York into 'America, ' and rendered dissent 'un-American.' President Bush, speaking of a nation 'under God' pitted against 'evildoers, ' rose to the position of national pastor.. <br>-Booklist <br> Publicity campaigns, Silberstein shows, rhetorically re-created national identity ('I am an American') while conflating 'patriotism and consumerism in a dance ofpolitical/economic codependence.' Silberstein finds altruistic strains in America's post 9/11 discourse, but her study also suggests how times of national crisis make us vulnerable to verbal posturings-our killing is 'collateral damage, ' thiers 'mass murder'-and how we suffer a loss of liberties in the name of 'fighting for democracy.'. <br>-Booklist <br>

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Sandra Silberstein is a leading name in applied linguistics, and Professor of English at the University of Washington, Seattle. She is widely published, and has written articles on a number of politically sensitive topics, including the OJ Simpson trial, the Gulf War, AIDS and the Inauguration of George Bush.

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