Paper: Paging Through History
Paper: Paging Through History
Paper: Paging Through History
Description
Description
Paper is one of the simplest and most essential pieces of human technology. For the past two millennia, the ability to produce it in ever more efficient ways has supported the proliferation of literacy, media, religion, education, commerce, and art; it has formed the foundation of civilizations, promoting revolutions and restoring stability. By tracing paper's evolution from antiquity to the present, with an emphasis on the contributions made in Asia and the Middle East, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technology's influence, affirming that paper is here to stay. Paper will be the commodity history that guides us forward in the twenty-first century and illuminates our times.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
Kurlansky's telling of this history...is swift, crisp, and deft.--Reid Mitenbuler "The Atlantic"
[An] historical journey well worth the ride. [Kurlansky] has a deep instinct for telling detail, which he combines with a disarmingly fun narrative style.-- "Los Angeles Times"
An historical journey well worth the ride. [Kurlansky] has a deep instinct for telling detail, which he combines with a disarmingly fun narrative style. Kurlansky makes a compelling case that paper has always been a revolutionary force - a foundation for expression of every sort -- and that it is certainly not dead yet.--Elizabeth Taylor "The National Book Review"
Kurlanksy tells [the history of paper] vividly in this compact and well-illustrated book....He has a sharp eye for curious details....[and] offers a versatile introduction to this long and complicated history.--Anthony Grafton "New York Times Book Review"
A beautiful thing to hold and feel, and it presents a fine argument for the retention of paper as an aesthetically lusty object.--Simon Garfield "The Observer"
One learns an awful lot from [Paper], all packaged in Kurlansky's whipsmart prose.--John Sutherland "The Times (London)"
Littered with amazing facts.--Lily Rothman "Time magazine"
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Pub date:
2017-05-23
Length:
416 pages
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