A History of Reading

Description

'Starting from the Bronze Age and ending with modern emails and a possible future of e-books, Steven Fischer's A History of Reading takes in a wonderful diversity of things.' - Nature 'It's an exciting story, which the author tells clearly and chronologically.' - Daily Telegraph Steven Roger Fischer's fascinating book, now available in an updated B-format edition, traces the complete story of reading, from the time when symbol first became sign through to the electronic texts of the present day. Journeying smoothly across continents and through time, Fischer charts the developments of ancient and completely divergent writing systems and scripts in Asia and the Americas; the innovative re-inventions of reading - silent and liturgical reading, the custom of lectors, reading's focus in general education - in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages; the emergence of the book trade, broadsheets, newspapers and public readings; the sweeping educational reforms of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and the appearance of free libraries, gender differences in reading matter, public advertising and the 'forbidden' lists of Church, State and the unemancipated. Finally, he assesses the future, suggesting a radical new definition of what reading could be.

Steven Roger Fischer FRS is a former director of the Institute of Polynesian Languages and Literatures, Auckland, New Zealand. He has written many books including A History of Language, A History of Writing, and Island at the End of the World: The Turbulent History of Easter Island, all also published by Reaktion Books.

"It's an exciting story, which the author tells clearly and chronologically."--Daily Telegraph "Of the three volumes in Fischer's hugely ambitious and sedulously executed trilogy, the first two dealt with language and writing. This one, however, is the most suggestive and open, dedicated not only to the technicalities of his subject but to the everyday experience of communication. . . . Fischer lets his historical readers speak for themselves, ceaselessly seduced by textual magic."--Independent "Starting from the Bronze Age and ending with modern emails and a possible future of e-books, Fischer's A History of Reading takes in a wonderful diversity of things."--Nature