Dimensions
140 x 30 x 185mm
How 26 Letters Shaped the Western World
An alphabet is a system for organising and recording thought. From the first neanderthal grunts right through to today's digital information overload, humans have needed some way of making sense of the world around them. The very earliest letters, which demonstrate this ("a" was the first sound of the Semitic word for ox, "b" for house) are still with us, virtually unchanged across the millennia. And while the western world today is divided by languages, it remains largely united by alphabet.
Discovering where these 26 or so letters came from and how they have evolved over the years is far more than just an academic exercise. This book is a thrilling story of adventure, passion and intrigue.
