Writing is one of humanity's greatest inventions.Without it there would be no history and no civilization as we know it. But how, when and where did writing evolve? In a succinct, absorbing and well-illustrated text, Andrew Robinson discusses the history of decipherment and then each of the major writing systems in turn, from cuneiform and Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphs to alphabets and the scripts of China and Japan. An invaluable guide to the world's major writing systems, The Story of Writing is a book to read for both pleasure and enlightenment.

Without writing there would be no history and no civilization as we know it. But how, when and where did writing evolve?

About the Author
Andrew Robinson is the author of twenty-five books in the arts and sciences, nine of them on aspects of Indian history and culture. They include two definitive biographies: Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye, described by V. S. Naipaul as 'an extraordinarily good, detailed and selfless book', and the coauthored Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man. He holds degrees from Oxford University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, has been a Visiting Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge, and is currently a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Reviews
'The most accessible and informative book available on the major writing systems of the world' - History Today
'Excellent ... Robinson covers so much ground in such short order that you feel he must have got something wrong or left out something important. He hasn't' - Bookdealer
'Delightful to read ... difficult to put down once started' - Communication Arts



Book Information
ISBN 9780500286609
Author Andrew Robinson
Format Paperback
Page Count 232
Imprint Thames & Hudson Ltd
Publisher Thames & Hudson Ltd
Weight(grams) 760g