So this has been on my TBR list for a couple of years. I had pretty high hopes for this because I love histories that focus on one unexpected subject, but I found myself rapidly losing interest in this.

I had thought that Paper would be a history of paper. However, it’s really more a history of writing, technology, and cultural change as it related to paper. Perhaps it’s because the book tries to make the argument that technology arises from changes in society rather than being the cause of societal change, which meant that it frequently went into tangents.

Paper starts by discussing proto-paper objects like papyrus and the history of writing before moving on to the invention and development of paper in Asia and the Middle East. And then it’s a really long history about paper in European history before going back to China and Japan to look at the role of paper in the modern age.

One thing that disappointed me was the relative lack of discussion of paper outside the West. Admittedly, my hopes were raised by two of the first three chapters, which were about Asia and the Middle East. But then the next fourteen chapters were about paper’s transition to, and development, in the West. Surely paper development wasn’t at a standstill in Asia and the Middle East – so why wasn’t it talked about when it felt like every little development of paper in Europe and America was mentioned?

And it’s probably because of misaligned expectations, but I found myself getting bored fairly often in the latter half of the book. I wanted to read about the history of paper, not just about the changes in Western society and how paper affected that. It felt like paper was pushed to the side at times, if I’m honest.

Overall, this was a disappointing read. It’s not bad, but it definitely wasn’t what I expected. I think people who are interested in paper as a form of technology would enjoy this a lot more than I did.

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