Mostofusgivelittlethoughttothebackofthebook--it’sjustwhereyougotolookthingsup.ButasDennisDuncanrevealsinthisdelightfulandwittyhistory,hidinginplainsightisanunlikelyrealmofambitionandobsession,sparringandpoliticking,pleasureandplay.Inthepagesoftheindex,wemightfindButchers,tobeavoided,orCowsthatsh-teFire,orevencatchCalvininhischamberwithaNonne.Here,forthefirsttime,isthesecretworldoftheindex:anunsungbutextraordinaryeverydaytool,withanillustriousbutlittle-knownpast.Chartingitscuriouspathfromthemonasteriesanduniversitiesofthirteenth-centuryEuropetoSiliconValleyinthetwenty-first,Duncanuncovershowithassavedhereticsfromthestake,keptpoliticiansfromhighoffice,andmadeusallintothereaderswearetoday.WefollowitthroughGermanprintshopsandEnlightenmentcoffeehouses,novelists’livingroomsanduniversitylaboratories,encounteringemperorsandpopes,philosophersandprimeministers,poets,librariansand--ofcourse--indexersalongtheway.Revealingitsvastroleinourevolvingliteraryandintellectualculture,Duncanshowsthat,forallouranxietiesabouttheAgeofSearch,weareallindex-rakersatheart--andwehavebeenforeighthundredyears.
poets FIRST HISTORY INDEX POETS
