Paper is one of the simplest and most essential pieces of human technology. For the past two millennia, the ability to produce it in ever more efficient ways has supported the proliferation of literacy, media, religion, education, commerce, and art; it has formed the foundation of civilizations, promoting revolutions and restoring stability. One has only to look at history's greatest press run, which produced 6.5 billion copies of Quotations from...

"Comprehensively researched, vividly written, The Paper Trail traces the cultural, political, and religious revolutions that this now globally ubiquitous material set in motion when it was new to the world. Alexander Monro--who has lived in, traveled through, studied, and written about China for many years--takes us from paper's refinement in 2nd century A.D. China, where it was used to solidify social and political systems that continue to influence...