Description

The bestselling phenomenon – a 6,000-year adventure through the history of books and reading

A FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST AND MAIL ON SUNDAY BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘Outstanding, universal and unique’ NEW YORK TIMES
‘A literary phenomenon.’ TLS
‘Masterly.’ ECONOMIST
‘Mindboggling’ TELEGRAPH

Long before books were mass-produced, scrolls hand copied on reeds pulled from the Nile were the treasures of the ancient world. Emperors and Pharaohs were so determined to possess them that they dispatched emissaries to the edges of the earth to bring them back.

In Papyrus, celebrated classicist Irene Vallejo traces the dramatic history of the book and the fight for its survival. This is the story of the book’s journey from oral tradition to scrolls to codices, and how that transition laid the very foundation of Western culture. And it is a story full of heroic adventures, bloodshed and megalomania – from the battlefields of Alexander the Great and the palaces of Cleopatra to the libraries of war-torn Sarajevo and Oxford.

An international bestseller, Papyrus brings the ancient world to life and celebrates the enduring power of the written word.

Publisher Review

A literary phenomenon . . . didactic and daring . . . elegant and richly digressive. * Times Literary Supplement * 'A very free and very wise and very digressive journey through the world of the book from the creation of the Library of Alexandria to the fall of the Roman Empire; Irene Vallejo has delivered an outstanding, universal and unique book.' -- Jordi Carrion * The New York Times * 'One can be a masterful philologist and at the same time write like the angels. Irene Vallejo flips communication upside down until she turns her dialogue with the reader into a true literary feast.' -- Luis Alberto de Cuenca * ABC * 'Irene Vallejo has written an incredible, universal, and unique book which will no doubt become a classic.' -- Juan Bolea * El Periodico de Aragon * 'It's a joy to read Irene Vallejo's prose, she is such a brilliant creator and full of sensitivity.' -- Luis Landero A fascinating and profound, yet delightfully personal take on books in the ancient world, with many illuminating insights into more modern literature and life. * Paul Strathern, author of Ten Cities that Led the World * 'In this fabulous, anecdote-filled history, award-winning Spanish writer Vallejo charts the fates and fortunes of books and libraries in the ancient world... As well as chronicling the thrills and spills of literary culture, she celebrates those whose heroic efforts ensured the continuity of the written word.' * The Bookseller *