The Paper Trail

An Unexpected History of a Revolutionary Invention

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Literacy, History, Civilization, Science & Nature, Technology, Engineering
Cover of the book The Paper Trail by Alexander Monro, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Alexander Monro ISBN: 9780307962300
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Publication: March 22, 2016
Imprint: Vintage Language: English
Author: Alexander Monro
ISBN: 9780307962300
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication: March 22, 2016
Imprint: Vintage
Language: English

A sweeping, richly detailed history that tells the fascinating story of how paper—the simple Chinese invention of two thousand years ago—wrapped itself around our world, humankind’s most momentous ideas imprinted on its surface.
           
The emergence of paper in the imperial court of Han China brought about a revolution in the transmission of knowledge and ideas, allowing religions, philosophies and propaganda to spread with ever greater ease. The first writing surface sufficiently cheap, portable and printable for books, pamphlets and journals to be mass-produced and distributed widely, paper opened the way for an unprecedented, ongoing dialogue between individuals and between communities across continents, oceans and time.
           
The Paper Trail explores how the new substance was used to solidify social and political systems that influenced China even into our own time. We see how paper made possible the spread of the then new religions of Buddhism and Manichaeism into Japan, Korea and Vietnam . . . how it enabled theologians, scientists and artists to build the vast and signally intellectual empire of the Abbasid Caliphate and embed the Koran in popular culture . . . how paper was carried along the Silk Road by merchants and missionaries, finally reaching Europe in the late thirteenth century . . . and how, once established in Europe, along with the printing press, paper played an essential role in the three great foundations of Western modernity: the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution.
           
Here is a dramatic, comprehensively researched, vividly written story populated by holy men and scholars, warriors and poets, rulers and ordinary men and women—an essential story brilliantly told in this luminous work of history.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A sweeping, richly detailed history that tells the fascinating story of how paper—the simple Chinese invention of two thousand years ago—wrapped itself around our world, humankind’s most momentous ideas imprinted on its surface.
           
The emergence of paper in the imperial court of Han China brought about a revolution in the transmission of knowledge and ideas, allowing religions, philosophies and propaganda to spread with ever greater ease. The first writing surface sufficiently cheap, portable and printable for books, pamphlets and journals to be mass-produced and distributed widely, paper opened the way for an unprecedented, ongoing dialogue between individuals and between communities across continents, oceans and time.
           
The Paper Trail explores how the new substance was used to solidify social and political systems that influenced China even into our own time. We see how paper made possible the spread of the then new religions of Buddhism and Manichaeism into Japan, Korea and Vietnam . . . how it enabled theologians, scientists and artists to build the vast and signally intellectual empire of the Abbasid Caliphate and embed the Koran in popular culture . . . how paper was carried along the Silk Road by merchants and missionaries, finally reaching Europe in the late thirteenth century . . . and how, once established in Europe, along with the printing press, paper played an essential role in the three great foundations of Western modernity: the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution.
           
Here is a dramatic, comprehensively researched, vividly written story populated by holy men and scholars, warriors and poets, rulers and ordinary men and women—an essential story brilliantly told in this luminous work of history.

More books from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Cover of the book Land of Desire by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book The Tattoo Artist by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book The Retreat from Moscow by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book Language Maven Strikes Again by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book Hostage by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book Interior States by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book California 1901 by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book Underground by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book The Civil War: A Narrative by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book Knockemstiff by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book Sand and Foam by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book Centennial Crisis by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book The Goodbye Look by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book Second Mencken Chrestomathy by Alexander Monro
Cover of the book Nobody's Angel by Alexander Monro
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy