Before Bridge of Words, she had written a biography of Emma Lazarus, which won the National Jewish Book Award, and published an anthology of original poetry.

Schor defines the start of the universal language movement as beginning with Francis Bacon's 1605 The Advancement of Learning, and discusses its opposition by figures such as John Locke.

Schor recounts her experiences at Esperanto conferences held in İzmir and Białystok: she describes the Anti-Esperanto sentiment seen there, with the vandalism of a statue of Zamenhof.

[15] A review by Javier Alcalde [eo] in the European Journal of Jewish Studies called the book "a solid work, in many respects ground-breaking.

Alcalde criticised, however, inconsistencies in the book's essays, and an over-focusing on the author's experiences in California and Brazil as opposed to more history of Esperanto in Western Europe.

She discussed Schor's "complex goals" in writing the book, calling it "as ambitious, soulful, intellectually hefty, and yet occasionally naïve as the project it describes".

[17] Paul Webb, writing for the Hong Kong Review of Books, saw her "flipping back and forth" between Esperanto history and her travels as "mak[ing] the historical chronology difficult to follow at times."

[19] Michael Wex had a "minor quibble" with the memoir parts of the book: "Schor is less assured as a memoirist than as a scholar, and while these latter sections are not without interest, they go on at greater lengths than the material warrants.

"[20] Michael Upchurch, reviewing in the Chicago Tribune, saw Schor's memoir material as a positive aspect of the work: "the memoir/travelogue vein of the book is relaxed and anecdotal".

"[21] Martin Rubin's review in The Washington Times saw Schor's enthusiasm as "infectious", but wrote that the book had "a certain breathlessness of tone" owing to her travels.

He also criticized her coverage of Robert Cecil as superficial: "Ms. Schor's grossly inadequate characterization of him is yet another depressing example of the scholarly tunnel vision so prevalent in the groves of academe today.