We may love books, but do we know what lies behind them? Sure to delight book lovers of all stripes with its lush, full-colour illustrations, The Book gives us the fascinating history behind humanitys most important and universal information technology.

Informationen zum Autor Keith Houston is the author of Shady Characters and The Book . His writing has appeared in the New York Times , the Wall Street Journal , the Financial Times , Mental Floss , BBC Culture , and on Time.com. He lives in Birmingham, England. Klappentext In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages-of civilisations, empires, human ingenuity and madness. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000 year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls to the hardcovers and paperbacks of today. Sure to delight book lovers of all stripes with its lush, full-colour illustrations, The Book gives us the momentous and surprising history behind humanity's most important-and universal-information technology. Praise for Shady Characters: "Punctuation is not a mere ornament or a curiosity-it is essential, and we need to know about it. Keith Houston's history is entertaining and readable."-The Guardian "Engaging typographical journeys... Houston brings to life a history of ingenuity and imagination."-The Times "[S]cholarly, highly readable and, on some deeper level, slightly deranged."-The Spectator "Refreshing... the stories he uncovers along the way are fascinating."-The Telegraph "Shady Characters might make you look at books... in an entirely new way."-Nature Zusammenfassung We may love books! but do we know what lies behind them?

Autorentext
Keith Houston is the author of Face with Tears of Joy, Empire of the Sum, Shady Characters, and The Book. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and on Mental Floss, BBC Culture, and Literary Hub. He lives in Linlithgow, Scotland.

Klappentext

In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages-of civilisations, empires, human ingenuity and madness. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000 year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls to the hardcovers and paperbacks of today. Sure to delight book lovers of all stripes with its lush, full-colour illustrations, The Book gives us the momentous and surprising history behind humanity's most important-and universal-information technology.

Praise for Shady Characters:

"Punctuation is not a mere ornament or a curiosity-it is essential, and we need to know about it. Keith Houston's history is entertaining and readable."-The Guardian

"Engaging typographical journeys... Houston brings to life a history of ingenuity and imagination."-The Times

"[S]cholarly, highly readable and, on some deeper level, slightly deranged."-The Spectator

"Refreshing... the stories he uncovers along the way are fascinating."-The Telegraph

"Shady Characters might make you look at books... in an entirely new way."-Nature

Zusammenfassung
We may love books, but do we know what lies behind them?