
Paper
Paging Through History
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.00 for first 30 days
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Andrew Garman
-
By:
-
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 today's 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 history's greatest press run, which produced 6.5 billion copies of Mao zhuxi yulu, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (Zedong), which doesn't 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 history's 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 paperless" and as speculation about the effects of a digitally dependent society grows rampant, we've 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 excise 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 paper's 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 technology's influence, affirming that paper is here to stay. Paper will be the commodity history that guides us forward in the 21st century and illuminates our times.
©2016 Mark Kurlansky (P)2016 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...




















People who viewed this also viewed...


















Wonderfully written story of the history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The author hammers his thesis pretty constantly, though, and the modern history part therefore tends to repetitiveness.
Informative and more fun than I thought a book simply called paper would be
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Kurlansky's Best
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Any additional comments?
I've read all of Kurlansky's books. All of them have been interesting and extremely enjoyable reads. Unfortunately Amazon has released a horribly flawed recording that skips and jumps, rendering the recording unlistenable. That this was allowed to be released in this condition is pathetic. I highly recommend the book. I can't recommend Amazon's shoddy release.Flawed Recording Ruins a Fascinating History
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fantastic book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
He brings to mind the way that James A Michner developes an image that is made of brush strokes from different times and points of view through history that form an image with deeper meaning than the subject matter suggests. A masterful work, well presented, that has changed my understanding of the world i live in.
A great book that changes how one sees the world.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you could sum up Paper in three words, what would they be?
Amazing Thorough ResearchWhat was one of the most memorable moments of Paper?
There was not just one moment. It was the continuous flow of the story and how he wrapped it up at the end. He includes so many parallel events and analysis.What about Andrew Garman’s performance did you like?
He has a perfect voice. Clear and smooth. Just the right emphasis. When I speed it up, it does not lose clarity.Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The destruction of libraries in the ancient word. As one country conquered another, they would destroy their library rather than read what they found. Horrible.Any additional comments?
A wonderful author. This book reminded me why I loved the author's book SALT so much.Kurlansky Scores Again
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Interesting role paper has played in history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Outstanding
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I learned a lot.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.