How do words traverse space and time? An exciting journey through the life of the book. A wandering adventure with stops at the battlefields of Alexander and the Villa of the Papyri, the palaces of Cleopatra and the site of Hypatia’s murder, in libraries and manuscript copy workshops, at the pyres where forbidden codes were burned, and in the gulags, in the library of Sarajevo and the underground labyrinth of Oxford in the year 2000.

A thread that connects the classics with the modern world... A collective adventure with heroes of thousands of faces, who contributed to the creation and protection of books: narrators, scribes, illustrators, translators, street vendors, teachers, scholars, spies, rebels, nuns, slaves, adventurers... readers on mountain peaks and by the sea, in vibrant capitals and in remote pockets where knowledge finds refuge in chaotic times.

The ordinary people, whose names are not recorded by History, are the protagonists of this book. STATE ESSAY AWARD 2020 (SPAIN). It is amazing that we have managed to preserve stories that were "woven" millennia ago. [...] humanity defied the absolute hegemony of destruction by inventing writing and books.

In a mysterious and spontaneous way, the love for books created an invisible chain of people who, without knowing each other, saved the treasure of the best narratives, dreams, and thoughts from the depths of the ages. IRENE VALLEJO.

Books made of smoke, stone, mud, reeds, silk, leather, trees, and, in our days, of plastic and light. The love for books and reading permeates every page of this masterpiece. I am sure it will be read by today’s readers, as well as for many years to come. Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize in Literature 2010.

A delightful stroll through the history of the book. Another proof that the book has not yet said its last word. Le Figaro.

It clearly illustrates the foundations of our world: books. NRC.

Vallejo rightly chose to abandon the academic style and speak with the voice of the narrator… A tribute to the book from a passionate reader. Alberto Manguel, author, former director of the National Library of Argentina.

A book that combines insight with narrative skill. Ignacio F. Garmendia, Malaga hoy. It is a pleasure to read the texts of Irene Vallejo, inspired, clever, and full of sensitivity. Luis Landero, author.