From clay tablets to CD-ROM, from book thieves to book burners, bibliophiles, book fools and saints, noted essayist Alberto Manguel follows the quirky and passionate 4,000-year-old history of the written work whose true hero is the reader. Photos & line drawings.

This study of the history of reading goes from the earliest examples of the clay tablets and cuneiform of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt via the invention of printing in the 15th century to the birth of a mass reading public and today's digital revolution. It argues that it is the demands and expectations of the reader, acting alongside the creative will of the writer, that is t...(展开全部)

Books and other texts have not always been read in the way that we read them today. The modern practice of reading--privately, silently, with the eyes alone--is only one way of reading, which for many centuries existed alongside other forms. In the ancient world, in the Middle Ages, and as late as the seventeenth century, many texts were written for the voice. They were address...(展开全部)

This path--breaking study will become the standard work on the history of reading in the West. It will be indispensable to students of cultural history, and to all those who want a fresh perspective on the history of books and their uses. * Wide--ranging and authoritative account of the changing practices of reading from the ancient world to the present day. * An international...(展开全部)

This path-breaking study will become the standard work on the history of reading in the West. It will be indispensable to students of cultural history, and to all those who want a fresh perspective on the history of books and their uses. Wide-ranging and authoritative account of the changing practices of reading from the ancient world to the present day. An international t...(展开全部)

Books and other texts have not always been read in the way that we read them today. The modern practice of reading--privately, silently, with the eyes alone--is only one way of reading, which for many centuries existed alongside other forms. In the ancient world, in the Middle Ages, and as late as the seventeenth century, many texts were written for the voice. They were address...(展开全部)

作者： 海伦﹒加德纳（Helen Gardner，1908—1986），英国文学评论家，牛津大学文学博士。曾任牛津大学教授、不列颠科学院院士、美国艺术科学院院士、巴伐利亚艺术科学院院士。在玄学派诗歌以及多恩、艾略特研究领域颇为知名。著有《批评的志业》《T.S.艾略特的艺术》《捍卫想象》等。 译者： 李小均：复旦大学文学博士，深圳大学外国语学院教授。著有《自由与反讽》等，译有《语言与沉默》《捍卫想象》等。

作者： 海伦﹒加德纳（Helen Gardner，1908—1986），英国文学评论家，牛津大学文学博士。曾任牛津大学教授、不列颠科学院院士、美国艺术科学院院士、巴伐利亚艺术科学院院士。在玄学派诗歌以及多恩、艾略特研究领域颇为知名。著有《批评的志业》《T.S.艾略特的艺术》《捍卫想象》等。 译者： 李小均：复旦大学文学博士，深圳大学外国语学院教授。著有《自由与反讽》等，译有《语言与沉默》《捍卫想象》等。

A global history of historical writing, thought and the development of the historical discipline from the ancient world to the present. This is a definitive guide to human efforts to recover, understand and represent the past, bringing together different historical traditions and their social, economic, political and cultural contexts. Daniel Woolf offers clear definitions of d...(展开全部)

A global history of historical writing, thought and the development of the historical discipline from the ancient world to the present. This is a definitive guide to human efforts to recover, understand and represent the past, bringing together different historical traditions and their social, economic, political and cultural contexts. Daniel Woolf offers clear definitions of d...(展开全部)