All the Knowledge in the World

The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopaedia by the bestselling author of JUST MY TYPE

By: Simon Garfield

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Paperback | 7 September 2023 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
400 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.6 x 12.8 x 2.6

Paperback

$30.99

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'Witty and geekily eclectic' The Times
An erudite and amusing exploration' Financial Times
'Full of jawdropping facts' Mail on Sunday
'Remarkable . . . engrossing' Sunday Times
'A pleasure' Spectator
'An infectiously enthusiastic history' Times Literary Supplement

The encyclopaedia once shaped our understanding of the world. Now these huge books sell for almost nothing on eBay while we derive information from our phones. What have we lost in this transition? All the Knowledge in the World tracks the story from Ancient Greece to Wikipedia, from modest single-volumes to the 11,000-volume Chinese manuscript that was too big to print. It exposes how encyclopaedias reflect our changing attitudes towards sexuality, race and technology, uncovers a fascinating part of our shared past and wonders whether the promise of complete knowledge - that most human of ambitions - will forever be beyond our grasp.

Industry Reviews

Witty and geekily eclectic . . . celebrates encyclopaedias in all their quirky, leatherbound glory - THE TIMES

Full of jawdropping facts . . . Garfield turns what might have been a dry subject into an enjoyable, quirky, highly informative tour . . . fascinating - MAIL ON SUNDAY

A delightful romp through the history of trying to summarise all there is to be known. Simon Garfield displays his inimitable mix of curiosity, learnedness and wit

Remarkable . . . engrossing. It is impossible to give readers an impression of the scope and power of Garfield's knowledge and imagination - SUNDAY TIMES

A pleasure. Garfield writes fluidly, cheerily and charmingly, even while the breeziness does not detract from the scale of his ambition: to understand nothing less than humans' need for knowledge and how to convey and preserve it - THE SPECTATOR

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