The History of Information

<p><b>SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2025<br> <br> ***<br> <br> A journey through the evolution of knowledge, communication, and information.<br> <br> The debut non-fiction book by best-selling author Chris Haughton.</b><br> <br> History, as it is often taught, is a list of kings and queens and treaties and events. It presents the what and when, but it rarely asks why.<br> <br> Why is it that we had kings and queens at all?<br> <br> Why then all of a sudden did we abandon them and shift to democracies?<br> <br> Why did the world's religions rise around the same time?<br> <br> Why is society dominated by men?<br> <br> The answers all come down to the same thing: information. The striving to share information, and - at the same time - the striving to undermine it, explains so much of today's world and connects so many seemingly unconnected things: the rise of religions, states, science, democracy, the west, militarism, racism, fascism, consumerism, big tech, polarisation, and AI.<br> <br> This history of information is closely connected to the history of visual communication - and as these two are largely the same - it makes sense to tell this story visually: a history of graphics told through graphics. <i>The History of Information</i>, through a mix of timelines, graphics, and illustrations, clearly breaks down and explains each concept for children and adults alike.<br> <br> <br> <b><i>The History of Information</i> includes:</b></p> <p><br></p> <ul> <li>A beautiful look at the story of information; from the first languages and cave paintings, through to how we communicate and record information today.</li> <li>Content written and illustrated by world famous and multi-award winning author and illustrator, Chris Haughton.</li> <li>A global journey throughout history from the origination of language, how information has been passed on and recorded, and how this affected humanity.</li> </ul>