The Oxford History of the Book

This book will become an invaluable point of departure for students new to the field, for scholars who need to venture outside their normal chronological and geographical comfort zones, and - as it should be - to that elusive general reader. * John Feather, Library & Information History *
Raven… has drawn together scholarly essays offering a sweeping, erudite, and thoroughly engaging narrative… A handsomely produced intellectual history. * Kirkus, Starred Review *
Together, these fourteen essays form a thorough picture of how and why books progressed along the lines that they did. In an age when books are once again experiencing momentous changes, this well-researched reminder of their durability and timelessness is very welcome. * Eileen Gonzalez, Foreword Reviews *
This volume is a cultural biography of the book, taking a global view of its underlying function as a portable, durable conveyor of reproducible information… Other works trace the history of the book, but Oxford’s treatment is a deeper, more multicultural, and more visually appealing approach. * Lesley Farmer, Booklist *
Beautifully comprehensively history of the book… the essays are stimulating and thought provoking. This is a scholarly work but it’s also a coffee table book intended to be widely read and accessible. This is a very well curated collection… Fascinating and beautiful. * Paul Burke, NB Magazine *
This is an excellent compilation on the world-wide history of the book… Put it on your Christmas present list. * Prof. T.D. Wilson, Information Research *
The Oxford History of the Book is a seminal and original work of meticulous scholarship * Midwest Book Review *
A sumptuous production. * Liz Dexter, Shiny New Books *
This is a practical, scholarly, reliable reference book about books and an admirable attempt to make a good book available to as broad an audience as possible at a fair price. * Anna James, Anglican and Episcopal History *

James Raven is Professor of Modern History at the University of Essex and a Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Formerly he was Reader in Social and Cultural History, University of Oxford, and Professorial Fellow of Mansfield College. He is the author, editor and co-editor of numerous books in early modern and modern British, European and colonial history, including Judging New Wealth (1992); The Practice and Representation of Reading (1996); The English Novel 1770-1829 (2000); Free Print and Non-Commercial Publishing (2000); London Booksellers and American Customers (2002); Lost Libraries (2004); The Business of Books: Booksellers and the English Book Trade (2007); Books between Europe and the Americas (2011); Publishing Business (2014) and Bookscape: Geographies of Printing and Publishing in London before 1800 (2014).

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