Index, A History of the

Fascinating * Financial Times * Witty and wide-ranging...adventurous... as if academic research were as revved-up as a Formula One race -- Peter Conrad * Observer * Masterful * Prospect * Hilarious -- Sam Leith * UnHerd * Exceptionally good ... I learned a huge amount from this wry, clever, diverting book * Scotsman * Brilliant, fascinating...a binge-worthy book -- Greg Jenner I loved this book - the story of the index turns out to be a true adventure -- Susie Dent (on Twitter) Charming ... Indexes are to books as menus are to meals: often the best bit * Economist * Illuminating ... A seemingly niche and esoteric subject, the index becomes, in Duncan's hands, a minor miracle. Index, A History of the is not only about books, printing, and the necessity of consistent page-numbering ... but about the nature of reading and about how we understand, categorise, and engage with the world -- Kate Wiles * History Today * What a surprise to discover that the plain and humble index has such an intricate and rollicking history! Dennis Duncan gives us a learned grand tour from ancient times to the almost present in the design and uses - and cunning abuses - of what is still the most sophisticated search tool ever devised. Instruction, passim! Entertainment, idem! -- David Bellos * author of Is That a Fish in Your Ear? *