Adam Kendon, one of the world's leading authorities on gesture and communication conduct, is currently a guest of the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, University of Pennsylvania.

• 1. The domain of gesture; 2. Visible action as gesture; 3. Western interest in gesture from classical antiquity to the eighteenth century; 4. Four contributions from the nineteenth century: Andrea de Jorio, Edward Tylor, Garrick Mallery and Wilhelm Wundt; 5. Gesture studies in the twentieth century: recession and return; 6. Classifying gestures; 7. Gesture units, gesture phrases and speech; 8. Deployments of gesture in the utterance; 9. Gesture and speech in semantic interaction; 10. Gesture and referential meaning; 11. On pointing; 12. Gestures of the 'precision-grip': topic, comment and question markers; 13. Two gesture families of the open hand; 14. Gesture without speech: the emergence of kinesic codes; 15. Gesture and sign on common ground; 16. Gesture, culture and the communication economy; 17. The status of gesture; Appendix I. Transcription conventions; Appendix II. The recordings.

"The treatment of the history of gesture studies is among the finest this reviewer has encountered, so the book seems destined to become a classic. Essential." CHOICE June 2005

Adam Kendon, one of the world's leading authorities on gesture and communication conduct, is currently a guest of the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, University of Pennsylvania.

• 1. The domain of gesture; 2. Visible action as gesture; 3. Western interest in gesture from classical antiquity to the eighteenth century; 4. Four contributions from the nineteenth century: Andrea de Jorio, Edward Tylor, Garrick Mallery and Wilhelm Wundt; 5. Gesture studies in the twentieth century: recession and return; 6. Classifying gestures; 7. Gesture units, gesture phrases and speech; 8. Deployments of gesture in the utterance; 9. Gesture and speech in semantic interaction; 10. Gesture and referential meaning; 11. On pointing; 12. Gestures of the 'precision-grip': topic, comment and question markers; 13. Two gesture families of the open hand; 14. Gesture without speech: the emergence of kinesic codes; 15. Gesture and sign on common ground; 16. Gesture, culture and the communication economy; 17. The status of gesture; Appendix I. Transcription conventions; Appendix II. The recordings.

"The treatment of the history of gesture studies is among the finest this reviewer has encountered, so the book seems destined to become a classic. Essential." CHOICE June 2005

Adam Kendon, one of the world's leading authorities on gesture and communication conduct, is currently a guest of the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, University of Pennsylvania.

• 1. The domain of gesture; 2. Visible action as gesture; 3. Western interest in gesture from classical antiquity to the eighteenth century; 4. Four contributions from the nineteenth century: Andrea de Jorio, Edward Tylor, Garrick Mallery and Wilhelm Wundt; 5. Gesture studies in the twentieth century: recession and return; 6. Classifying gestures; 7. Gesture units, gesture phrases and speech; 8. Deployments of gesture in the utterance; 9. Gesture and speech in semantic interaction; 10. Gesture and referential meaning; 11. On pointing; 12. Gestures of the 'precision-grip': topic, comment and question markers; 13. Two gesture families of the open hand; 14. Gesture without speech: the emergence of kinesic codes; 15. Gesture and sign on common ground; 16. Gesture, culture and the communication economy; 17. The status of gesture; Appendix I. Transcription conventions; Appendix II. The recordings.

"The treatment of the history of gesture studies is among the finest this reviewer has encountered, so the book seems destined to become a classic. Essential." CHOICE June 2005