A review by schopflin
Index, a History of The: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan

funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

I've read a lot of books on the topic of how we organise our knowledge to make it manageable and this is without doubt the most entertaining book I have read on the subject. Part of me felt a pang as it's a version of a book I would like to have written myself. But better - full of reflective insights that go beyond the book history (and the humour). My one complaint is that he skates slightly over subject headings - how they are chosen, how people decide to divide up the world (in technical terms, he doesn't touch on thesauri and taxonomies). But that is probably another book.