Rakuten Kobo

Skip side bar filters

Shady Characters

The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks

by Keith Houston ...

“An absolutely fascinating blend of history, design, sociology, and cultural poetics—highly recommended.”—Maria Popova, Brain PickingsA charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (†)—which alternately illuminated and ... Read more

$12.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

“An absolutely fascinating blend of history, design, sociology, and cultural poetics—highly recommended.”—Maria Popova, Brain PickingsA charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (†)—which alternately illuminated and
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Face with Tears of Joy

A Natural History of Emoji

by Keith Houston ...

A vibrant exploration of the world’s newest language—where it came from, how it works, and where it’s going.We are surrounded by emoji. They appear in politics, movies, drug deals, our sex lives, and more. But emoji’s impact has never been explored in full. In this rollicking tech and pop culture history, Keith Houston follows emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan, traces its Western explosion in ... Read more

$13.69 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

A vibrant exploration of the world’s newest language—where it came from, how it works, and where it’s going.We are surrounded by emoji. They appear in politics, movies, drug deals, our sex lives, and more. But emoji’s impact has never been explored in full. In this rollicking tech and pop culture history, Keith Houston follows emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan, traces its Western explosion in
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
The Book

A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time

by Keith Houston ...

"A masterful and overwhelmingly entertaining volume." —Clea Simon, Boston GlobeIn The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how ... Read more

$17.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

"A masterful and overwhelmingly entertaining volume." —Clea Simon, Boston GlobeIn The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Empire of the Sum

The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator

by Keith Houston ...

**A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice“[A] lively, entertaining history.” —New York Times Book Review, Editors' ChoiceThe hidden history of the pocket calculator—a device that ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, and went with us to the moon—and the mathematicians, designers, and inventors who brought it to life.**Starting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans ... Read more

$15.99 USD

Also available as: Audiobook

**A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice“[A] lively, entertaining history.” —New York Times Book Review, Editors' ChoiceThe hidden history of the pocket calculator—a device that ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, and went with us to the moon—and the mathematicians, designers, and inventors who brought it to life.**Starting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans
... Read more

Also available as: Audiobook
Audiobook

The Book

A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time

by Keith Houston ...

Narrated by Dennis Kleinman ...

Unabridged

9 hours 58 min

We may love books, but do we know what lies behind them? In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages—of civilizations, empires, human ingenuity, and madness. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of ... Read more

$19.99 USD

Also available as: eBook

We may love books, but do we know what lies behind them? In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages—of civilizations, empires, human ingenuity, and madness. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of
... Read more

Also available as: eBook
Audiobook

Face with Tears of Joy

A Natural History of Emoji

by Keith Houston ...

Narrated by Michael Butler Murray ...

Unabridged

5 hours 43 min

A vibrant exploration of the world's newest language—where it came from, how it works, and where it's going.We are surrounded by emoji. They appear in politics, movies, drug deals, our sex lives, and more. But emoji's impact has never been explored in full. In this rollicking tech and pop culture history, Keith Houston follows emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan, traces its Western explosion in ... Read more

$18.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

Also available as: eBook

A vibrant exploration of the world's newest language—where it came from, how it works, and where it's going.We are surrounded by emoji. They appear in politics, movies, drug deals, our sex lives, and more. But emoji's impact has never been explored in full. In this rollicking tech and pop culture history, Keith Houston follows emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan, traces its Western explosion in
... Read more

Also available as: eBook
Audiobook

Empire of the Sum

The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator

by Keith Houston ...

Narrated by Elliot Fitzpatrick ...

Unabridged

9 hours 7 min

The hidden history of the pocket calculator—a device that ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, and went with us to the moon—and the mathematicians, designers, and inventors who brought it to life.Starting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans have always reached for tools to simplify math. Pocket-sized calculators ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic ... Read more

$24.99 USD

Also available as: eBook

The hidden history of the pocket calculator—a device that ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, and went with us to the moon—and the mathematicians, designers, and inventors who brought it to life.Starting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans have always reached for tools to simplify math. Pocket-sized calculators ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic
... Read more

Also available as: eBook
Audiobook

Shady Characters

The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks

by Keith Houston ...

Narrated by Elliot Fitzpatrick ...

Unabridged

7 hours 9 min

A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (†)—which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bible—or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for centuries until rescued by the ... Read more

$19.99 USD

Also available as: eBook

A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (†)—which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bible—or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for centuries until rescued by the
... Read more

Also available as: eBook

Audiobook

The Lost Gutenberg

The Astounding Story of One Book's Five-Hundred-Year Odyssey

by Margaret Leslie Davis ...

Narrated by Coleen Marlo ...

Unabridged

6 hours 25 min

**“A lively tale of historical innovation, the thrill of the bibliophile’s hunt, greed and betrayal.” – The New York Times Book Review"An addictive and engaging look at the ‘competitive, catty and slightly angst-ridden’ heart of the world of book collecting.” - The Houston ChronicleThe never-before-told story of one extremely rare copy of the Gutenberg Bible, and its impact on the lives of the ... Read more

$17.99 USD

Also available as: eBook

**“A lively tale of historical innovation, the thrill of the bibliophile’s hunt, greed and betrayal.” – The New York Times Book Review"An addictive and engaging look at the ‘competitive, catty and slightly angst-ridden’ heart of the world of book collecting.” - The Houston ChronicleThe never-before-told story of one extremely rare copy of the Gutenberg Bible, and its impact on the lives of the
... Read more

Also available as: eBook
Audiobook

The Domestic Revolution

How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything

by Ruth Goodman ...

Narrated by Jennifer M. Dixon ...

Unabridged

11 hours 17 min

"The queen of living history" (Lucy Worsley) returns with an immersive account of how English women sparked a worldwide revolution—from their own kitchens.No single invention epitomizes the Victorian era more than the black cast-iron range. Aware that the twenty-first-century has reduced it to a quaint relic, Ruth Goodman was determined to prove that the hot coal stove provided so much more than ... Read more

$24.99 USD

Also available as: eBook

"The queen of living history" (Lucy Worsley) returns with an immersive account of how English women sparked a worldwide revolution—from their own kitchens.No single invention epitomizes the Victorian era more than the black cast-iron range. Aware that the twenty-first-century has reduced it to a quaint relic, Ruth Goodman was determined to prove that the hot coal stove provided so much more than
... Read more

Also available as: eBook
Audiobook

The Source

How Rivers Made America and America Remade Its Rivers

by Martin Doyle ...

Narrated by Keith Sellon-Wright ...

Unabridged

10 hours 32 min

In this fresh and powerful work of environmental history, Martin Doyle explores how rivers have often been the source of arguments at the heart of the American experiment?over federalism, taxation, regulation, conservation, and development.Doyle tells the epic story of America and its rivers, from the U.S. Constitution's roots in interstate river navigation, the origins of the Army Corps of ... Read more

$30.99 USD

Also available as: eBook

In this fresh and powerful work of environmental history, Martin Doyle explores how rivers have often been the source of arguments at the heart of the American experiment?over federalism, taxation, regulation, conservation, and development.Doyle tells the epic story of America and its rivers, from the U.S. Constitution's roots in interstate river navigation, the origins of the Army Corps of
... Read more

Also available as: eBook
Audiobook

Brothers, Rivals, Victors

Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and the Partnership That Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe

by Jonathan W. Jordan ...

Narrated by William Hughes ...

Unabridged

23 hours 35 min

The true story of the friendship—and rivalry—among the greatest American generals of World War IISupreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George S. Patton, and General Omar N. Bradley engineered the Allied conquest that shattered Hitler’s hold over Europe. But they also shared an intricate web of relationships going back decades. In the cauldron of World War II, they found their ... Read more

$31.95 USD

Also available as: eBook

The true story of the friendship—and rivalry—among the greatest American generals of World War IISupreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George S. Patton, and General Omar N. Bradley engineered the Allied conquest that shattered Hitler’s hold over Europe. But they also shared an intricate web of relationships going back decades. In the cauldron of World War II, they found their
... Read more

Also available as: eBook

Rakuten Kobo

eReaders

Apps

Accessories

What is Kobo Super Points?

Reward Yourself

Shopping Cart

You're getting the VIP treatment!

Your Shopping Cart is empty

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Recommended For You

“keith houston”

Shady Characters

Face with Tears of Joy

The Book

Empire of the Sum

The Book

Face with Tears of Joy

Empire of the Sum

Shady Characters

People who read these also enjoyed

The Lost Gutenberg

The Domestic Revolution

The Source

Brothers, Rivals, Victors

eReaders

Apps

Accessories

Shopping Cart

You're getting the VIP treatment!

Your Shopping Cart is empty

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Recommended For You

“keith houston”

Show:

People who read these also enjoyed