`Language and Hegemony’ in Gramsci demonstrates how Gramsci’s writings on language illuminate his entire social and political thought. It documents Gramsci’s concern with language from his university studies in linguistics, where he initially derived his famous concept of hegemony, to his last prison notebook. Hegemony has been seen as Gramsci’s most important contribution, but without knowledge of its linguistic roots, it is often misunderstood. It is only from the vantage point of Gramsci’s writings on language that the full explanatory power of hegemony, and his unique combination of Marxist economic analysis and social critique can be fully appreciated.