Babel : or the necessity of violence : an arcane history of the Oxford translators' revolution
- London Harper Voyager 2022
- 546 p.
This book is an interrogative and brilliant alternative fantastical history that explores colonial history and the Industrial Revolution. The book follows Robin Swift, a Chinese boy orphaned by cholera, who trains in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese at Oxford University's Royal Institute of Translation (Babel). Babel is the world's center for translation and magic, and its knowledge serves the British Empire's quest for colonization. Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. As Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide whether powerful institutions can be changed from within or if revolution always requires violence.