The Book: A Global History is a tremendous reference work for anyone interested in the history of books, texts, and written communications. It is a more affordable iteration of 2010's The Oxford Companion to the Book, focusing on and updating the latter's article-length narratives of thematic and regional book histories, while excising its encyclopedia of terminology. In their introduction to The Book: A Global History, general editors Suarez and Woudhuysen explain that it emerged from their desire to further disseminate these essays created for The Oxford Companion. The book is sparingly illustrated, except in chapters that truly benefit from illustration, . . .
A Not So Global History of the Book