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A Place for Everything

ebook
From a New York Times-bestselling 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.
A Times (UK) Best Book of 2020

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Publisher: Basic Books

Kindle Book

  • Release date: October 20, 2020

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9781541675063
  • Release date: October 20, 2020

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9781541675063
  • File size: 22997 KB
  • Release date: October 20, 2020

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Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

Languages

English

From a New York Times-bestselling 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.
A Times (UK) Best Book of 2020

Expand title description text