# A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order - Hardcover

by **Judith Flanders** (Author)

**From a _New York Times-_bestselling historian comes the story of how the alphabet ordered our world.** _A Place for Everything_ is the first-ever history of alphabetization, from the Library of Alexandria to Wikipedia. The story of alphabetical order has been shaped by some of history's most compelling characters, such as industrious and enthusiastic early adopter Samuel Pepys and dedicated alphabet champion Denis Diderot. But though even George Washington was a proponent, many others stuck to older forms of classification -- Yale listed its students by their family's social status until 1886. And yet, while the order of the alphabet now rules -- libraries, phone books, reference books, even the order of entry for the teams at the Olympic Games -- it has remained curiously invisible. With abundant inquisitiveness and wry humor, historian Judith Flanders traces the triumph of alphabetical order and offers a compendium of Western knowledge, from A to Z.

**A _Times_ (UK) Best Book of 2020**

### Author Biography

**Judith Flanders** is a social historian. Her works include the bestselling _The Invention of Murder_, _Inside the Victorian Home_, and _The Victorian City_. She is senior research fellow at the University of Buckingham, as well as a frequent contributor to the _Sunday Telegraph_, the _Guardian_, and the _Wall Street Journal_.

**Number of Pages:** 352

**Dimensions:** 1.4 x 9.3 x 6.3 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** October 20, 2020

## Details

- **Price:** 30.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 30.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order - Hardcover

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