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Paper: Paging Through History
Paper: Paging Through History | Mark Kurlansky
From the New York Times best-selling author of Cod and Salt, a definitive history of paper and the astonishing ways it has shaped todays world. Paper is one of the simplest and most essential pieces of human technology. For the past two millennia, the ability to produce it in ever more efficient ways has supported the proliferation of literacy, media, religion, education, commerce, and art; it has formed the foundation of civilizations, promoting revolutions and restoring stability. One has only to look at historys greatest press run, which produced 6.5 billion copies of Mo zhux yulu, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (Zedong)which doesnt include editions in 37 foreign languages and in brailleto appreciate the range and influence of a single publication, in paper. Or take the fact that one of historys most revered artists, Leonardo da Vinci, left behind only 15 paintings but 4,000 works on paper. And though the colonies were at the time calling for a boycott of all British goods, the one exception they made speaks to the essentiality of the material; they penned the Declaration of Independence on British paper. Now, amid discussion of going paperlessand as speculation about the effects of a digitally dependent society grows rampantweve come to a world-historic juncture. Thousands of years ago, Socrates and Plato warned that written language would be the end of true knowledge, replacing the need to exercise memory and think through complex questions. Similar arguments were made about the switch from handwritten to printed books, and today about the role of computer technology. By tracing papers evolution from antiquity to the present, with an emphasis on the contributions made in Asia and the Middle East, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technologys influence, affirming that paper is here to stay. Paper will be the commodity history that guides us forward in the twenty-first century and illuminates our times.
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bookandbedandtea
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Pickpick

This was really interesting and I learned a lot. I maybe didn't like it quite as much as Salt, which I read years ago, but it's whetted my appetite for similar books. I think I'll get Cod next.

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StaceyKondla
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I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 205 #bookstoread #tbrpile #bookstagram

Schnoebs This looks so good! 4y
Sace I feel like I have this author somewhere in my shelves (Maybe Salt?) Now I want to read this book too! I bet the history of paper is quite interesting. 4y
StaceyKondla @Schnoebs @Sace - Mark Kurlansky writes extremely compelling narrative nonfiction. He takes mundane topics like Milk and Salt and makes them super fascinating 😊 I highly recommend and haven‘t been disappointed by him yet 4y
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LouBeth
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Is it weird that I'm so excited to start an audiobook about paper?
I really enjoy this author's book about Salt. I have really high hopes for this one.

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Villo
Pickpick

Another nice reading about history by Mark Kurlansky. As for the others similar books I read, Cod and Salt, this book is fabulous reading about paper, writing and arts, from the very early civilizations to nowadays. It is amazing to read about how many are still making paper by hand in various special ways for different color taste and use. Very well referenced and with an interesting Timeline annexed to it. #2019
PS: I have read it on my iPad...

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Joriebooks
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Organized my book shelves today. Now reading this great book. A little dry at times but otherwise a fascinating history of how paper changed the world. 📚😍🤓

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MrBook
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#TBRtemptation post 5! For two millennia, paper has been a simple but essential piece of human technology. Many aspects are looked at. History's greatest press-run, Mao's Quotations; Leonardo da Vinci left only 15 paintings but thousands of works on paper; the American colonies would not boycott paper during their resistance; from Socrates and Plato denouncing the written word to the digital print of today. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

BookmarkTavern I adore these kinds of microhistories! 7y
PirateJenny Kurlansky is always great 7y
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Qemorio
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Books with one word title display I made at work.

TheBookStacker I loooooove Atonement 7y
britt_brooke Nice! 7y
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MagdaRosol
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For a book nerd, reading about the history of paper is an emotional experience. Love you, Paper! ...no offense, e-books and audiobooks. You're good, too. Seriously, this is a great, very readable book. Mark Kurlansky is my slightly more serous Mary Roach.

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Joriebooks
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Hudson news has something I actually want to read. Was not expecting that when I walked in. Gonna have to put it on the Christmas Wish List.

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Pierke
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Am enjoying this sweeping history of paper, a commodity that we take vey much for granted. At a certain moment in time it nevertheless was rather scarce.

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hcmarks
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So paper. Much Venice.

MrBook Can't wait to get to this one. 8y
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CynCruz23
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Putting on my TBR

📚 + 📰 = 🎉

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BethFishReads
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I would read anything Kurlansky wrote, but I'm extra excited about his latest. I love paper and am looking forward to learning both the past and the future of this most important invention. Don't take away my paper, journals, and print books!

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