From the time of the first written sacred texts in the West, taboo has proscribed the act and art of translation. So argues Robinson, who with candor verging on iconoclasm explores the age-old prohibition of translation of sacred texts and shows how similar taboos influence intercultural exchange even today. Probing concepts about language, culture, and geopolitical boundaries—both archaic and contemporary—he examines the philosophy and theory of translation and intercultural exchange. In the process, he challenges presuppositions about what cultures hold sacred.