A focused work that positions the notion of a book not just as a passive tool of storage, but as an enabling technology that inspires and expands thinking — a true idea machine. This was a retrospective that started with the earliest forms of writing and recording in ancient times and gradually progressed to what we think of when we think of books in the modern era (sort of). Little fluff, diligently researched. Dry and not the easiest read. I imagine it was difficult to decide the depth of coverage for a slew of related topics such as writing, education, printing, alternative media forms, the most impactful books in history, etc. I think Miller leaned on his interests to help navigate the reservoir of possible content—specifically his gravitation to history and religion, and especially Christianity. For example, while he had plenty to say on the Roman Empire and monastic scribes in the Middle Ages, he had much less to say about the modern transformation of the book industry. After substantial focus on the era of slavery in the U.S., he mostly glosses over the 1900’s, surprisingly deciding Sam Bankman-Fried’s dislike for books needed a few pages, and then quickly exits with vague takes on LLMs and artificial intelligence. What about the evolution of the publishing industry and their power through conglomeration, the impact of Amazon on book distribution and marketing (at least in the West), and today’s means of information dissemination (scientific journals, research papers, substack, podcasts, video, etc.) that naturally threaten the perceived value of books? These were missed opportunities to provide a real comprehensive telling of his idea machine