The greatest invention : a history of the world in nine mysterious scripts /

"Silvia Ferrara leads a code cracking mission to decipher the hidden truths and histories of our greatest invention--the art of writing"--

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Ferrara, Silvia (Author)
Other Authors:	Portnowitz, Todd, 1986- (Translator)
Format:	Book
Language:	English
Published:	New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022.
Edition:	First American edition.
Subjects:	Writing > History. Inscriptions > History. Extinct languages. Écriture > Histoire. Langues mortes. LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics. Inscriptions. Writing. History. LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Alphabets & Writing SystemŝLANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Historical & ComparativêLANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Writing / General.

Table of Contents:

Behind the scenes. Stories ; Nature
Undeciphered scripts. Islands. Crete ; Cyprus ; Easter Island
Invented scripts. Cities ; Before the Pharaohs ; Between two rivers ; Chinese turtles ; Across the ocean ; End of story
Experiments. Tradition ; Solitary inventors ; Isolated branches ; Social inventors
Discoveries. Where to begin ; How to decipher
The great vision. First ; Afterward ; Tomorrow ; Postscriptum.