A History Of Reading

Reading started in ancient Asia and the Americas, re-emerged in Europe in the Middle Ages and was reinvented by the development of printing. The explosion of the book trade, of newspapers, public readings and public libraries swept reading into 19th century educational reforms and onwards towards the present cyber-age, in which read communication looks set to exceed oral communication. This highly innovative account, the last in Fischer's trilogy, is a complete history of a ubiquitous yet mysterious art.