This book is an autobiographical account of the life of Eric Hawkins, a leading figure in language teaching. The author recounts his journey into language, which traces his formative experiences at school in 1920s Liverpool, taking him to pre-Civil War Spain, undergraduate life at Cambridge, language learning in the shadow of Nazi Germany, life as a soldier during World War II, and a subsequent rich teaching career. Chapter titles include the following: "Listening to Lorca"; "How It Began"; "Lessons from Liverpool"; "Reading Cervantes"; "Two German Families"; "Preparing To Teach"; "The Basque Children"; "Languages in Uniform"; "Two Schoolmaster Lieutenants"; "Starting Again"; "Rebuilding Bridges"; "Breaking the Language Lockstep"; "Jan Komensky"; "Henry Sweet"; "A Language Teaching Center"; "Why Not Rebuild Babel?"; and "Envoi." Appendices include "School Certificate French Paper" (1929) and "A 5-Subject Higher School Certificate: Sample Questions" (1931). Twelve illustrations are included. (KFT)