All the Knowledge in the World

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Once upon a time, not so long ago, encyclopaedias shaped our knowledge and understanding of the world. They were the epitome of learning! This delightfully entertaining and enthusiastic book explores in roughly chronological and alphabetical order the rise and fall of encyclopaedias, telling the stories of some of the eccentric personalities and canny publishers involved in various productions. It's an examination of what we thought worth knowing, of how and what we learned - and what we may have lost. An enjoyable read.   Lindy

"Witty and geekily eclectic . . . celebrates encyclopaedias in all their quirky, leatherbound glory * THE TIMES * Simon Garfield's history of the encyclopaedia is full of jawdropping facts, and he turns what might have been a dry subject into an enjoyable, quirky, highly informative tour . . . fascinating * MAIL ON SUNDAY * A delightful romp through the history of trying to summarise all there is to be known. Simon Garfield displays his inimitable mix of curiosity, learnedness and wit -- TIM HARFORD Remarkable . . . engrossing. It is impossible to give readers an impression of the scope and power of Garfield's knowledge and imagination * SUNDAY TIMES * An erudite and amusing exploration of the human quest for knowledge * FINANCIAL TIMES * Simon Garfield's fascinating story of encyclopaedias is itself brilliantly encyclopaedic -- DAVID CRYSTAL All human life is here - and animal, vegetable and mineral life, too -- HARRY MOUNT A pleasure. Garfield writes fluidly, cheerily and charmingly, even while the breeziness does not detract from the scale of his ambition: to understand nothing less than humans' need for knowledge and how to convey and preserve it * THE SPECTATOR * Illuminating . . . An infectiously enthusiastic history, inspired by genuine affection * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT * A gripping story - so much I didn't know here! I loved this book -- SARA WHEELER Suitably encyclopaedic - written with all [Garfield's] usual wit and sharp eye for memorable facts * READER'S DIGEST * A valentine to the monumental significance of encyclopaedias, reminding us how, until the arrival of computers, ""they did more than any other single thing to shape our understanding of the world"". Illustrates Garfield's capacity to synthesise wide-ranging research and present it in a lucid, vibrant style with his characteristic eye for detail * IRISH EXAMINER * Delightful. Garfield's witty history captures the obsessive, quixotic and sometimes error-filled quests of those . . . who have attempted to corral all the world's information into a single source * NEW YORK TIMES * The life and death of the encyclopedia is recounted in Simon Garfield's excellent new book . . . Garfield is lucid, witty, learned and clearly a bibliomaniac . . . In All the Knowledge in the World, he has produced a lively threnody to the encyclopedic impulse . . . Impressively comprehensive * WALL STREET JOURNAL * A fascinating history . . . Lively and informative * WASHINGTON POST * Simon Garfield is the only author who could ever keep me up at night reading about encyclopedias. A brilliant book about knowledge itself -- DEIRDRE MASK Magnificent . . . The story [Garfield] tells is truly extraordinary . . . A perfectly styled work of literature - at times sad, at times funny, but always full of life . . . One of those few books that I've found impossible to put down -- Vitali Vitaliev * ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY * Anyone fascinated by the origins, evolution and the ultimate mortality of print encyclopedias will love this book. All the Knowledge in the World is excellent at telling the long historical story of all encyclopedias, including those that predated Britannica. The book does a great job of detailing the 20th-century history of Britannica and the full story of Wikipedia's creation, challenges and impact * INSIDE HIGHER ED *"