Papyrus

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022

''A literary phenomenon.'' - Times Literary Supplement

''Imaginative, lively and contemporary...masterly.'' - Economist

''A panoramic survey of how books shaped not just the ancient world but ours too.'' - Observer

''A mindboggling history of the earliest books... the story she tells is impressively rip-roaring'' - Daily Telegraph

''Packed with fascinating insights.'' - The i Review


Long before books were mass produced, those made of reeds from along the Nile were worth fighting and dying for. Journeying along the battlefields of Alexander the Great, beneath the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, at Cleopatra''s palaces and the scene of Hypatia''s murder, award-winning author Irene Vallejo chronicles the excitement of literary culture in the ancient world, and the heroic efforts that ensured this impress