Synopses & Reviews
Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-301) and index.
Review
"This book comes at the perfect momentas we rediscover the importance in early reading of cracking the alphabetic code. The story of how that code came into being is a fascinating one, and Man is the ideal writer to tell it."
Times Educational Supplement
Review
"A richly absorbing exploration, from B.C. to PCs, of the evolution of the most fundamental 'characters' of our cultural history, the alphabet we so much take for granted. John Man writes with a compellingly restless curiosity and immediacy. The ever surprising, exotically detailed narrative in his informative book makes it as undryly enjoyable as a successful archaelogical dig of one of Alan Moorehead's colorful histories of African exploration." David Grambs, author of The Describers Dictionary and The Endangered English Dictionary
Review
"Text that is crisp, taut, and as clear as a bell....A fascinating story with many a beguiling subplot along the way." New Scientist