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    The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time
    The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time
    The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time

    Written by Keith Houston

    Narrated by Dennis Kleinman

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    We may love books, but do we know what lies behind them? 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 civilizations, 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. The Book gives us the momentous and surprising history behind humanity's most important-and universal-information technology.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 30, 2019
    ISBN9781515919469
    The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time

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    Reviews for The Book

    4/5

    69 ratings10 reviews

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    • 5/5
      As a bibliophil/designer this is my new Bible. I even ordered the real deal and the hard copy is now a center piece on my book shelf. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
    • 4/5
      The Book is a fascinating survey of the history of the book. It is well written and manages to sprinkle direct facts with amusing anecdotes. I really enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      Keith Houston doesn't skip the details in his exploration of the history of the physical book as we know it today. He covers it all. In reading it, you will discover how we came to have the paper we use; the texts and ink; the illustrations; and the shape and sizes that are both common and not. The book itself, as you read, is a lesson as well. Every introduction of a new element is clearly labeled, and he dives into murky waters to find where each one begins. Sometimes there are no clear answers. Sometimes there seem to be, but wait...not so fast! He points out where seemingly settled matters veer off into myth. Facts may be hard to nail down, but the stories are entertaining. My only complaint was that so much space was given to processes that I sometimes became lost. I do not fault Houston for this, I have always had problems following formulas and directions. My knowledge of engineering is quite shallow. But I enjoyed it all the same and recommend it to anyone who cares deeply about books.
    • 5/5
      I have to start by saying this poor book was an innocent bystander to the just-completed 2017 BookLikes-opoly game. That is the only reason it took me 2.5 months to read it; it certainly wasn't due to any shortcomings on the part of the subject or writing itself. The Book is exactly what it says it is on the cover: a history of every physical aspect of the book as we know it today; from the creation of the writing surface (clay, wax, papyrus, parchment, paper) to the development of writing itself, the process of putting one on the other, and the evolution of the useable and practical units (scrolls, codices, etc.) of collection. Each part of what makes up the book is labeled, as can be seen on the cover itself. No part is ever labeled more than once so it doesn't become tedious. Far from being the dry, academic dissertation my description makes it sound like, The Book is really well written and very easy reading. The author is knowledgeable and just relaxed enough and funny enough to remind you of a really good, relatable professor whose lectures you never mind attending. Enjoyable enough, even, that a few dropped articles from the text weren't quite enough for me to ding my rating. For those academically minded, there are very comprehensive notes and bibliography sections at the back. I have the hardcover edition of this and it is beautiful. As close as you can come, I imagine, to a handmade book on a mass market scale. My only quibble is that in the spirit of showing the reader what a book is made of, the covers are left as the raw fibreboard; it looks nice but it's not going to be durable unless care is taken with the corners. I intend to take care, but still, I half wish they'd at least varnished the boards as a way of reinforcing those delicate corners. If you not only love books for the stories they contain, but for the physical objects that they are, and you enjoy a bit of history, this book might be one for your permanent collection and it's very much worth having the physical hardcover edition - just make sure to watch those corners.
    • 5/5
      If you have any interest in books as books, i.e. as a physical object, then The Book is the book for you. Weaving together the histories of paper, writing, illustration, printing, and book binding Houston delivers an epic tale that explains the cultures, individuals, and occasional humorous incidents that lead to the development of the object that changed the world. He also manages to use The Book itself as a practical exhibit in describing the technical aspects of how a book is made and why its design has remained essentially unchanged for millennia. An essential read for any bibliophile.
    • 5/5
      Fascinating, well-written, and nicely designed exploration into the varied histories of the main aspects of what makes a book, a book. Materials to write on (the march from papyrus to parchment to paper), the development of text (from hieroglyphics and cuneiform to mechanical and photo-mechanical typesetting machines), the parallel development of printing techniques as required for non-type elements such as illustrations (from woodcut via copper plate up to offset lithography) and the physical form of pages and bookbinding. Of necessity, the author jumps about a bit (chronologically and geographically) but his reasons for doing so are clear and it doesn't result in a messy tangle as it easily could have done. Also, I don't think I was distracted by a single typo throughout.(The only drop of half a star is, ironically, for one aspect of the physical form of the thing: the bare, uncovered boards of the cover are already softening and fraying at the corners. For this reason I've ordered some brass book corner protectors, which I intend – when they arrive – to affix for strengthening. This will be apt, I think, as it will impart a little personalization and craftsmanship befitting the subject's history.)
    • 4/5
      Fascinating analysis of all technological aspects of book production and how we came to the modern book's form & function
    • 4/5
      The Book, which is a complete over view of the book from it's earliest stages to what we find today. This includes the history of the earliest stages of writing, paper making, inks, type setting, and finally binding. Its well researched and through overview. Many the sections go into great detail. But for me there isn't enough information. I want to understand the evolution of type faces. There isn't much on modern printing and book making innovations of the last couple of decades. And their is no discussion about the future of book making; for a 2016 book in a world of ebooks and audiobooks this seems like a big oversight. I read this book ironically enough on a Kindle so a discussion about the this new form of book making would have been a nice addition.A cool feature of this book, even included in the ebook version I read, is that throughout the text there are side notes on various components like: headers,titles, footnotes, bullets, margins, etc. I actually learned a lot just from these side notes.
    • 4/5
      If you enjoy book history and/or discussions of the book as object, you should definitely pick up this book. Divided into four sections (the page, the text, illustrations, and form), Houston explores the history of the book from its early roots to its current form. He covers thousands of years of history with thoroughly enjoyable writing and occasional dashes of humour that had me laughing out loud. The book is also a gorgeous object on its own (I highly recommend picking this one up in hardcover), with lovely high quality paper and, as evidenced from the annotations on the cover, it also highlights the technical terms for the content in a fun way. Solidly recommended if you enjoy the subject.
    • 4/5
      The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston is for book worms, book nerds and book lovers alike. It explores the history of the page (often paper) the text, illustrations and form. Some I was already familiar with like the making of paper but there were oodles of facts in history that I had not seen before. There is a section about Marco Polo coming to Chengdu China and being intrigued with the idea of paper money. Also an attempt to prevent forgery by putting the message that people would attempt forgery will be beheaded.Each of the four sections of this book lead you journeys through history where you learn the complicated processes of making paper and the quest of the perfect materials for paper. Marco Polo was intrigued by the concept of paper money which was already being used in Chengdu when he visited it. It of course made for a much lighter load for the traveling merchants than heavy coins.I was delighted to know that one of the books that my father gave me when I was twelve was a copy of the of most expensive book ever sold. I enjoyed learning about woodcuts, lithography and other methods for illustration. Since my father's grandfather illustrated children's books with those methods I was thrilled to learn the processes.There is something for everyone in The Book, those were just a few things that popped out at me. I highly recommend The Book for anyone wanting to know the history, process and developement of book making.