Overview

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. 24 illustrations

Full Product Details

9780393353709

Table of Contents

Reviews

Kurlansky's book is published with a deckle edge finish, a process that replaces the regular clean-cut trim of a page with a jagged, pulped roughness... It is a beautiful thing to hold and feel, and it presents a fine argument for the retention of paper as an aesthetically lusty object, let alone one that's thrived through centuries of change. -- The Observer Paper is not what you would call a learned book, but one learns an awful lot from it, all packaged in Kurlansky's whipsmart prose. -- The Times The history of paper is a history of cultural transmission, and Kurlansky tells it vividly in this compact, well-illustrated book. -- The New York Times Kurlansky expertly argues a case for its [paper's] continuing survival. -- The Scotsman

Author Information

Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times best-selling author of twenty-nine books and a former foreign correspondent for The International Herald Tribune, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He lives in New York City.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available