British actor Tim Bentinck narrates this remarkably witty and pithy audiobook with a sense of informed fun. He has a fine ability to mimic. Americans, French people, and Germans all are nicely emulated, and his restrained glee suits the encyclopedia maven Garfield’s writing. He paces his delivery intelligently. Chock-a-block with factoids, this audiobook traces how knowledge came to be codified—from the Britannica to Wikipedia. The more than two centuries of publishing information are covered smartly. Those interested in how Wikipedia editors work will find out in this text. This audiobook is at once a history of how “information ecosystems” have evolved and how each incarnation represented its age. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

12/12/2022

Replicating the A-to-Z structure of its subject, this quirky and entertaining history of encyclopedias spotlights volumes that are “the most significant or interesting or indicative of a turning point in how we view the world.” According to journalist Garfield (The End of Innocence), these include the 1768 first edition of the Britannica (the “gold standard” in English) and its modern-day descendant, Wikipedia, which “plundered huge amounts” of the Britannica’s 11th edition when it launched in 2001. Along the way, Garfield covers ancient Roman scholar Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia, a 37-volume series that enthusiastically (“Pliny seemed to be in love with the entire world”) encompassed wine growing, geography, mineralogy, and more; the “Dime Bank Close,” a door-to-door sales technique highlighting the affordability of a World Book set in the 1970s and ’80s (“Three dimes a day to put all the knowledge in the Western World at your child’s fingertips”); and the yearslong, collaborative efforts by classics scholars to translate the Suda, a 10th-century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopedia. Garfield also makes room for lighter affairs, recounting episodes of Friends and Monty Python that featured encyclopedia salesmen. Fast-paced and fact-filled, this entertaining compendium is a worthy tribute to the pursuit of knowledge. Illus. (Feb.)

Garfield’s witty history captures the obsessive, quixotic and sometimes error-filled quests of those—from Pliny the Elder in the first century A.D. to Wikipedians in this one—who have attempted to corral all the world’s information into a single source.” — New York Times

“The life and death of the encyclopedia is recounted in Simon Garfield’s excellent new book....Garfield is lucid, witty, learned and clearly a bibliomaniac.... In All the Knowledge in the World, he has produced a lively threnody to the encyclopedic impulse....Impressively comprehensive.” — Wall Street Journal

“Witty and geekily eclectic....Celebrates encyclopedias in all their quirky, leatherbound glory.” — The Times (London)

"A wealth of research wrapped into an eccentric, charming package. ... Fits easily into [Garfield's] unpredictable canon, combining information, entertainment, and insight. ... Garfield's great affection for his subject shines through, making this book a pleasing, intriguing read." — Kirkus Reviews

"A playful history. ... Having grown up with a hunter-green leather-bound set of Britannicas in the house, I relate to Garfield’s nostalgia and delight. ... However bookish knowledge can be, Garfield counters this tendency with a light and personable touch." — New York Times Book Review

"A fascinating history. ... Lively and informative." — Washington Post

“Simon Garfield is the only author who could ever keep me up at night reading about encyclopedias. A brilliant book about knowledge itself.” — DEIRDRE MASK, author of The Address Book

“Magnificent. ... A perfectly styled work of literature—at times sad, at times funny, but always full of life.” — Engineering & Technology Magazine

"Anyone fascinated by the origins, evolution and the ultimate mortality of print encyclopedias will love this book. Wikipedia enthusiasts, from casual consumers to dedicated contributors, will also gain much from reading the book. ... All the Knowledge in the World is excellent at telling the long historical story of all encyclopedias, including those that predated Britannica. The book does a great job of detailing the 20th-century history of Britannica and the full story of Wikipedia’s creation, challenges and impact." — Inside Higher Ed

"An erudite and amusing exploration of the human quest for knowledge." — Financial Times

"An enjoyable tour." — Science

"A pleasure. Garfield writes fluidly, cheerily and charmingly, even while the breeziness does not detract from the scale of his ambition: to understand nothing less than humans’ need for knowledge and how to convey and preserve it." — The Spectator (Australia)

"Quirky and entertaining. ... Fast-paced and fact-filled, this entertaining compendium is a worthy tribute to the pursuit of knowledge." — Publishers Weekly

"Illuminating. ... An infectiously enthusiastic history, inspired by genuine affection." — Times Literary Supplement (London)

"Entertaining. ... Garfield’s genial solution is to organize his book alphabetically, which allows him to dive after whatever morsel of knowledge attracts his eye: for readers it means feeling much as if we were browsing an actual encyclopedia written by a companionable soul." — The Spectator

"Illustrates Garfield’s capacity to synthesise wide-ranging research and present it in a lucid, vibrant style. ... A valentine to the monumental significance of encyclopaedias." — Irish Examiner

"[A] suitably encyclopaedic book—written with all [Garfield's] usual wit and sharp eye for memorable facts." — Reader's Digest

"Entertaining and informative." — The Canberra Times (Australia)

"Fans of Simon Winchester’s The Professor and the Madman and readers who don’t mind plenty of intriguing digression will devour." — Booklist

British actor Tim Bentinck narrates this remarkably witty and pithy audiobook with a sense of informed fun. He has a fine ability to mimic. Americans, French people, and Germans all are nicely emulated, and his restrained glee suits the encyclopedia maven Garfield’s writing. He paces his delivery intelligently. Chock-a-block with factoids, this audiobook traces how knowledge came to be codified—from the Britannica to Wikipedia. The more than two centuries of publishing information are covered smartly. Those interested in how Wikipedia editors work will find out in this text. This audiobook is at once a history of how “information ecosystems” have evolved and how each incarnation represented its age. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

2022-12-06
A wealth of research wrapped into an eccentric, charming package.

Garfield is the author of several appealingly unusual books, such as Mauve, about the history of purple, and Just My Type, about the history of fonts. His latest fits easily into this unpredictable canon, combining information, entertainment, and insight. Garfield is clearly an aficionado, and he takes us into his ever growing collection. In tracking the history of encyclopedias, the author maintains focus on the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the longtime gold standard. Launched in 1768, it mixed material from existing sources with original articles from the editors. Later editions also used specialized contributors. “In 1926,” writes Garfield, “George Bernard Shaw received $68.50 for his article on Socialism, while Albert Einstein received $86.40 for his piece on Space-Time.” However, notes the author, the Britannica was far from the first attempt to consolidate all knowledge. Of course, the ancient Greeks and Romans took several shots at the project, but for sheer scale, the winner is the Yongle Dadian, which was commissioned by Zhu Di, an emperor of the Ming dynasty in China. It had 11,095 manuscript volumes, so large that there was only one copy made. Garfield has a good time exploring the evolution of the encyclopedia. “What is and isn’t valued knowledge, and how best to present it, has been the recurring headache of every encyclopedia editor in history,” he writes. The author peppers the text with peculiar entries from various volumes. Despite his droll sense of humor, he consistently makes important points about the fungible nature of knowledge and the way that language changes to reflect social trends. Hard-copy encyclopedias were eventually replaced, first with searchable CDs and, eventually, Wikipedia and other digital resources. In fact, Wikipedia “plundered huge amounts of Britannica’s (out-of-copyright) eleventh edition as its core knowledge base,” writes the author. Even as paper volumes approach extinction, their legacy endures.

Garfield’s great affection for his subject shines through, making this book a pleasing, intriguing read.