CONTENTS

Author’s Note

Prologue

PART IGuardian of Immortality

ONEThe Inspector Puts Pen to Paper and Makes History

TWOPrisse, like Moses, Carries Home Stone Tablets and Paper Scrolls

THREEThe Undertaker’s Special and the World’s First Bestseller

FOURThe Book of the Dead, Guardian of Immortality

FIVEPapyrus Paper, Your Ticket to Paradise

SIXThe Sands of the Nile Give Up their Treasures

SEVENThe Affair of the Oranges

EIGHTThe Floodgates Open

PART IIEgypt, Papermaker to the World

NINEThe Birth of Memphis and Paper

TENA Gift from the Gods

ELEVENThe Monopoly

TWELVEGrowing and Managing Papyrus for Paper

THIRTEENThe Emperor and the Lewd Papermaker

FOURTEENTaking on the World—and Leaving a Legacy

PART IIIThe Enemy of Oblivion

FIFTEENEarly Libraries, Paper, and the Writing Business

SIXTEENA Library to End All Libraries and the Sweet Smell of History

SEVENTEENThe Romans and the Book Trade

EIGHTEENRoman Libraries

NINETEENThose Precious, Tender-hearted Scrolls

TWENTYSaving the Day

TWENTY-ONEMedia One Makes Its Mark in the World

TWENTY-TWOThe Last Bastion, the Church of Rome

TWENTY-THREEConstantinople and the Long Goodbye

TWENTY-FOUREnd of the Road and the Battle of the Talas River

TWENTY-FIVEThe Mystery of the Disappearing Plant

TWENTY-SIXThe Pharaoh’s Own Conquers the Vatican

TWENTY-SEVENThe Road Back

EPILOGUEThe Road Ahead

Acknowledgments

Supplementary Illustration Credits

Appendix

References

Endnotes

Index