This book examines a fundamental discovery of humankind: the idea of shapes for sounds, of alphabets. Without them, newspapers would be just folded paper, mystery envelopes would drop through your letterbox, you might brush your teeth with hair gel, 95 percent of the internet wouldn’t exist and you wouldn’t be reading this. The development of this idea is considered on a sequential and individual basis, from its sonic beginnings, with the Latin alphabet placed into a broader context of other alphabets. Topics examined are: the growth of the second Latin alphabet from the first (and three optional routes); a view of alphabetic application since the invention of printing; and how to make your own tools and letter-shapes. At the heart of the book are 26 charts that map the journey of individual letters as gestalt timelines. These are book-ended by a cross-referenced introductory text and 37 appendices. And there is a map. 

This is a shining book. It is innovative in the myriad ways it is designed to reveal the alphabet in sonic, tactile, visual and ideological relevance.