{"product_id":"all-the-knowledge-in-the-world-9781474610773","title":"All the Knowledge in the World","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe encyclopaedia once shaped our understanding of the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Created by thousands of scholars and the most obsessive of editors, adults cleared their shelves in the belief that wisdom was now effortlessly accessible in their living rooms. Contributions from Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Orville Wright, Alfred Hitchcock, Marie Curie and Indira Gandhi helped millions of children with their homework. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But now these huge books gather dust and sell for almost nothing on eBay, and we derive our information from the internet, apparently for free. What have we lost in this transition? And how did we tell the progress of our lives in the past?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eAll the Knowledge in the World\u003c\/i\u003e is a history and celebration of those who created the most ground-breaking and remarkable publishing phenomenon of any age. It tracks the story from Ancient Greece to Wikipedia, from modest single-volumes to the 11,000-volume Chinese manuscript that was too big to print. It looks at how \u0026lt;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWitty and geekily eclectic . . . celebrates encyclopaedias in all their quirky, leatherbound glory * THE TIMES *\u003cbr\u003eSimon Garfield's history of the encyclopaedia is full of jawdropping facts, and he turns what might have been a dry subject into an enjoyable, quirky, highly informative tour . . . fascinating * MAIL ON SUNDAY *\u003cbr\u003eA delightful romp through the history of trying to summarise all there is to be known. Simon Garfield displays his inimitable mix of curiosity, learnedness and wit -- TIM HARFORD\u003cbr\u003eRemarkable . . . engrossing. It is impossible to give readers an impression of the scope and power of Garfield's knowledge and imagination * SUNDAY TIMES *\u003cbr\u003eAn erudite and amusing exploration of the human quest for knowledge * FINANCIAL TIMES *\u003cbr\u003eSimon Garfield's fascinating story of encyclopaedias is itself brilliantly encyclopaedic -- DAVID CRYSTAL\u003cbr\u003eAll human life is here - and animal, vegetable and mineral life, too -- HARRY MOUNT\u003cbr\u003eA pleasure. Garfield writes fluidly, cheerily and charmingly, even while the breeziness does not detract from the scale of his ambition: to understand nothing less than humans' need for knowledge and how to convey and preserve it * THE SPECTATOR *\u003cbr\u003eIlluminating . . . An infectiously enthusiastic history, inspired by genuine affection * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *\u003cbr\u003eA gripping story - so much I didn't know here! I loved this book -- SARA WHEELER\u003cbr\u003eSuitably encyclopaedic - written with all [Garfield's] usual wit and sharp eye for memorable facts * READER'S DIGEST *\u003cbr\u003eA valentine to the monumental significance of encyclopaedias, reminding us how, until the arrival of computers, \"they did more than any other single thing to shape our understanding of the world\". Illustrates Garfield's capacity to synthesise wide-ranging research and present it in a lucid, vibrant style with his characteristic eye for detail * IRISH EXAMINER *\u003cbr\u003eDelightful. Garfield's witty history captures the obsessive, quixotic and sometimes error-filled quests of those . . . who have attempted to corral all the world's information into a single source * NEW YORK TIMES *\u003cbr\u003eThe life and death of the encyclopedia is recounted in Simon Garfield's excellent new book . . . Garfield is lucid, witty, learned and clearly a bibliomaniac . . . In \u003ci\u003eAll the Knowledge in the World\u003c\/i\u003e, he has produced a lively threnody to the encyclopedic impulse . . . Impressively comprehensive * WALL STREET JOURNAL *\u003cbr\u003eA fascinating history . . . Lively and informative * WASHINGTON POST *\u003cbr\u003eSimon Garfield is the only author who could ever keep me up at night reading about encyclopedias. A brilliant book about knowledge itself -- DEIRDRE MASK\u003cbr\u003eMagnificent . . . The story [Garfield] tells is truly extraordinary . . .  A perfectly styled work of literature - at times sad, at times funny, but always full of life . . . One of those few books that I've found impossible to put down -- Vitali Vitaliev * ENGINEERING \u0026amp; TECHNOLOGY *\u003cbr\u003eAnyone fascinated by the origins, evolution and the ultimate mortality of print encyclopedias will love this book. \u003ci\u003eAll the Knowledge in the World\u003c\/i\u003e is excellent at telling the long historical story of all encyclopedias, including those that predated Britannica. The book does a great job of detailing the 20th-century history of Britannica and the full story of Wikipedia's creation, challenges and impact * INSIDE HIGHER ED *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Orion Publishing Co","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48867259973975,"sku":"9781474610773","price":18.04,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/all-the-knowledge-in-the-world-9781474610773","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}