Interested in the evolution of linguistics, this is catnip. 'For readers who love language or armchair historians

“This is an utterly charming book, packed with engrossing details.”- The Times (UK) 'One of the many fascinations of Judith Flanders's book is that it reveals what a weird, unlikely creation the alphabet is.an intriguing history not just of alphabetical order but of the human need for both pattern and intellectual efficiency.'- GuardianĬharming repository of idiosyncrasy, a love letter to literacy that rightlyĭelights in alphabetisation's exceptions as much as its rules.'- Financial Times It feels particularly relevant now that search engines are rendering old ways of organizing information obsolete.That we have acquired so much knowledge is astounding that we have devised ways to find what we need to know quickly is what merits this original and impressive book.'- New York Times A Place for Everything rewards us with a fresh take on our quest to stockpile knowledge. 'One of the many fascinations of Judith Flanders' book is that it reveals what a weird, unlikely creation the alphabet is.'Fascinating.

Along the way, the reader encounters a wonderful cast of characters,from the great collector Robert Cotton, who catalogued his manuscripts by the names of the busts of the Roman emperors surmounting his book cases, to the unassuming sixteenth-century London bookseller who ushered in a revolution by listing his authors by 'sirname' first. In A Place for Everything, acclaimed historian Judith Flanders fascinatingly lays out the gradual triumph of alphabetical order, from its use as a sorting tool in the Great Library of Alexandria to its current decline in prominence in the digital age. Long before Google searches, this magical system of organization gave us the ability to sort through centuries of thought, knowledge and literature, allowing us to sift, file, and find the information we have, and to locate the information we need. From school registers to electoral rolls, from dictionaries and encyclopaedias to library shelves, our lives have been ordered from A to Z. And yet the order of the alphabet continues to play a major role in our adult lives.

Fascinating.' Sunday Times Once we've learned it as children, few of us think much of the alphabet and its familiar sing-song order. is a meticulour historian with a taste for the offbeat the story of the alphabet suits her well.

A place for everything judith flanders