This is a guest post by Nataly Kelly, Chief Research Officer at the Boston-based research firm Common Sense Advisory and author of Found in Translation: How Language Shapes Our Lives and Transforms the World (Penguin).

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And then there is the imaginative inspiration that the stories have given children - although, as Mr Irwin points out, many of the most famous characters like Ali Baba are not to be found in the original, but in Galland's translation.

BBC: Today

At the request of the provost he taught a class in ancient Greek literature in translation, sympathizing with students who found Thucydides impenetrable: The Modern Library edition has one map of the entire Hellenic world, with 180 labels on it.

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