Why does this sentence start with a capital letter? Why is this one broken up - and why does it end in a question mark? Does anyone really know what semicolons are for; why are italics italicised , and why do words have spaces between them? Punctuation turns written words into meaningful language, inflecting them with nuance and tone: it can be the difference between a nice surprise! And a nasty ending... Florence Hazrat''s ground-breaking history of punctuation stretches from the ancient past to into the digital realms of today, from the fall of the Roman Empire to the rise of the emoji, the birth of the printing press to the death of the Oxford Comma. In this definitive biography of the marks that give voice to our written words, and the characters that have shaped their usage, Hazrat reveals their richly storied past and how punctuation is evolving and more important than ever as we move from the printed page to the digital screen. A deeply researched treasure trove that wears its knowledge lightly, On the Mark is a fascinating odyssey through time and place for language lovers everywhere.

Autorentext

Dr Florence Hazrat is a researcher and writer, and a world expert on the history and culture of punctuation. A BBC New Generation Thinker, Dr Hazrat has appeared on Radio 4's Word of Mouth and writes the newsletter Mind the Gap on Substack. Her first book, An Admirable Point, a cultural history of the exclamation mark, was published by Profile in 2022.

Klappentext

So. Good. So. Sharp. So. Clear. You. Need. This. Book. Period' Lucy Mangan, author of Bookish

**'A roller coaster of a story' New York Times
**
Since the dawn of writing, punctuation has helped us tell our stories. Scribes in ancient Alexandria simplified their scrolls with full stops and commas, opening the doors of their library to the entire world. During the Renaissance, semicolons and exclamation marks empowered writers to satirise society and inject life and passion into their texts. Even today, the youngest generations creating new rules for emojis, caps and irony in the lexicon of online language.

In this riotous global history, Florence Hazrat reveals the creators and rebels who made punctuation what it is today, conjuring new meanings from commas and colons, parentheses and pilcrows. Witty and original, On the Mark journeys across the world and through the evolution of language, celebrating the silent marks that infuse our words with meaning and shape our literary cultures.