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A Place for Everything

The Curious History of Alphabetical Order

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A Place for Everything

By: Judith Flanders
Narrated by: Julia Winwood
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From a New York Times best-selling historian comes the story of how the alphabet ordered our world.

A Place for Everything is the first-ever history of alphabetization, from the Library of Alexandria to Wikipedia. The story of alphabetical order has been shaped by some of history's most compelling characters, such as industrious and enthusiastic early adopter Samuel Pepys and dedicated alphabet champion Denis Diderot. But though even George Washington was a proponent, many others stuck to older forms of classification - Yale listed its students by their family's social status until 1886. And yet, while the order of the alphabet now rules - libraries, phone books, reference books, even the order of entry for the teams at the Olympic Games - it has remained curiously invisible.

With abundant inquisitiveness and wry humor, historian Judith Flanders traces the triumph of alphabetical order and offers a compendium of Western knowledge, from A to Z.

©2020 Judith Flanders (P)2020 Basic Books Library & Museum Studies Social Sciences Words, Language & Grammar World Middle Ages Witty Ancient History

Critic reviews

A Times (UK) Best Book of 2020

"Surprising and copiously researched." (Times Literary Supplement)

"Quirky and compelling.... [Flanders] is a meticulous historian with a taste for the offbeat; the story of alphabetical order suits her well." (Dan Jones, Sunday Times, UK)

"For readers who love language or armchair historians interested in the evolution of linguistics, this is catnip. For the mildly curious, it's accessible, narratively adventurous, and surprisingly insightful about how the alphabet marks us all in some way.... A rich cultural and linguistic history." (Kirkus)
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If you like putting things in order or categories by size / color / use - you’ll love this. If you’re an ontologist, it’s a must read.

Like ordering things?

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And informative! And interesting twist on history and a bit of insight in some other cultures. Very well presented

Very interesting

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As a retired librarian/cataloger I found this history most enjoyable. The text was thorough but not dry at all. I particularly liked learning about people I had not before encountered in my other reading. I also found the reader to be easy to listen to, with excellent pronunciation of the various languages discussed in the book.

Interesting and enjoyable.

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it's pretty hard to make something like the history of alphabetization exciting I would imagine. this is an accounting of historical occurrences and as such is not all that adrenaline inducing but who would have expected it to be right? I think the narrator did a pretty good job although having a British accent did make it more difficult at times to focus on what was being said rather than how she was saying it.

interesting but admittedly dry

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This book provides a thorough history of alphabetical order and other ordering methods, such as hierarchical (God and king before other subjects), chronological, or topical as the organizer sees fit. It is an extremely pedantic book. You have to love library science to enjoy this book.

You have to love library science

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