The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper: A New Statesman and Spectator Book of the Year

(Paperback, Main)

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A 'Best Book of the Year 2023' in the New Statesman, Spectator and Waterstones

'From plans for flying machines to philosophy - the remarkable joy of jotting things down' Guardian

'Surprisingly revealing' The Sunday Times

We see notebooks everywhere we go. But where did this simple invention come from How did they revolutionise our lives, and why are they such powerful tools for creativity And how can using a notebook help you change the way you think

In this wide-ranging story, Roland Allen reveals all the answers. Ranging from the bustling markets of medieval Florence to the quiet studies of our greatest thinkers, he follows a trail of dazzling ideas, revealing how the notebook became our most dependable and versatile tool for creative thinking. He tells the notebook stories of artists like Leonardo and Frida Kahlo, scientists from Isaac Newton to Marie Curie, and writers from Chaucer to Henry James. We watch Darwin developing his theory of evolution in tiny pocketbooks, see Agatha Christie plotting a hundred murders in scrappy exercise books, and learn how Bruce Chatwin unwittingly inspired the creation of the Moleskine.

On the way we meet a host of cooks, kings, sailors, fishermen, musicians, engineers, politicians, adventurers and mathematicians, who all used their notebooks as a space for thinking and to shape the modern world.

Reviews

'A restless, arresting new history of the notebook ... a fine book on a fabulous subject' - Daily Telegraph

'A different, fascinating, entertaining, witty approach to writing cultural history' - Irish Times

'A fascinating study of notebooks through history, ... beautifully written and a complete delight to dip in to or read from cover to cover' - Alexander McCall Smith

'With this fascinating exploration, Allen has written a very original, diverting and surprising history of a humble everyday object' - Saga

'Fluently and engagingly written' - Art Newspaper

Author Bio

Roland Allen is a publisher and author who lives in Hove. He studied at Manchester University and works in book (and notebook) publishing. He has written about subjects as diverse as bicycles and bread, kept a diary for decades, and enjoys stationery a little too much.