The Gutenberg Revolution: The Story of a Genius and an Invention That Changed the World (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In 1450, all western Europe's books were handcopied and amounted to no more than a single modern library. By 1500 they were printed and numbered in their millions. Printing made possible the development of modern science and literature, and the political shift from statelets to nations. It brought about the biggest chages in human culture since the invention of the alphabet itself. The man responsible was Johann Gutenberg, born in Mainz, Germany in 1400. John Man explains how this technical genius, whose research into printing was funded by wealthy sponsors, struggled against a background of plague, religious upheaval and legal battles to bring his remarkable invention to light.

About the Author

John Man is a historian and travel writer with a special interest in Mongolia. His most recent books are GOBI: TRACKING THE DESERT and THE ATLAS OF THE YEAR 1000. He also wrote THE ATLAS OF D-DAY. He devised and presented the BBC Radio 4 series 'Survivors'.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Headline Review (February 3, 2003)
• ISBN-10: 0747245053
• ISBN-13: 978-0747245056
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,431,107 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great history of Gutenberg and his life and times, February 15, 2004

By	E. L. Weinhold "Lolly" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

_The Gutenberg Revolution_ is a highly informative book, not just about the man, Johannes Gutenberg, but about his machine, his time, and his legacy. Several chapters are devoted to the history and politics of late-medieval Germany, and they provided wonderful context for the overall story.

I learned a great deal from this book, however, the writing style was slightly annoying. Man, the author, tries to chat with his reader, and while it was interesting some of the time, I felt it was overdone, and that the book began to suffer because of it. Sentences like "So: Here we go", do not belong in a history book. Other than that tendency, I really did like the book. I am very interested in the History of Books, and this is one of the few sources (in English) written about the father of modern printing; so for that reason, I value it.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And we think we live in disheavled times..., November 24, 2003

By	J. Guild (Toronto,Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Gutenberg Revolution: The Story of a Genius and an Invention That Changed the World (Hardcover)

The changes that occurred in Europe in the middle of the 15th.
Century were monumental in the advance of civilization.This change was extremely quick;essentially taking place in only a decade or so. All the requirements were in place ,such as writing,presses inks,papers,techniques of working with metals for making type,etc.All that was missing was the will to pull all the things together to produce books using movable type instead of hand reproduction.
This period was totally different from what we know today.A very few people owned and controlled everything.There were very few books,none available to anyone except the upper classes and academics.This mattered little, as few commoners read anyway.Europe was ravished by wars and every so often breakouts of the Black Death.The ruling class ,in conjunction with the Church ruled and controlled everything.Gutenberg's introduction of movable type printing provided the vehicle that changed all that.
More than just dealing with printing, this book is excellent in describing how society operated and how changes in printing on a mass scale, effected changes that resulted in society being turned upside down forever.It took something like this to advance out of the Middle Ages;just like it took electricity to create the Industrial Age.
What I found so good about this book is that ,unlike most history books that describe what happened,this author shows why these things happened.
The author has dealt with all this in a very readible manner.