The Gutenberg Revolution

How Printing Changed the Course of History

By John Man

HISTORY

304 Pages, 5 x 8

Formats: Trade Paper

Trade Paper, $21.99 (US $21.99)

Publication Date: May 2010

ISBN 9780553819663

Rights: US

Transworld Publishers (May 2010)
Bantam Press

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Overview

The changes wrought by printing is full of vivid and meticulous detail in this engaging popular history.

In 1450, all Europe's books were handcopied and amounted to only a few thousand. By 1500, they were printed and numbered in their millions. The invention of Johann Gutenberg had caused a revolution: printing by movable type. Born in 1400 in Mainz, Germany, Gutenberg struggled against a background of plague and religious upheaval to bring his remarkable invention to light. His story is full of paradoxes: his ambition was to reunite all Christendom, but his invention shattered it; he aimed to make a fortune, but was cruelly denied the fruits of his life's work. Yet history remembers him as a visionary; his discovery marks the beginning of the modern world.

Reviews

"Vivid . . . engaging, detailed and highly readable . . . a window on an extraordinary display of consummate skill and creative genius." —New Scientist

"At the heart of Man's enchanting narrative is Gutenberg's place as an early capitalist, an entrepreneur, deprived of patrician status by his mother's modest background, who set out to strike it rich in business." —New York Times Book Review

"A heavily detailed account, but still accessible to a general audience." —Booklist

The best book about the origin of books you could read . . . clear, engaging, fast-paced and authoritative." —Stephen Fry

"Extremely erudite and enormously enthusiastic." —Guardian

Author Biography

John Man is a historian and travel writer whose other titles include Alpha Beta, Attila, Genghis Khan, and The Great Wall.

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