Paper is one of the simplest and most fundamental pieces of human technology. For the last two millennia, the ability to produce it in increasingly efficient ways has supported the spread of literate society, media, religion, education, commerce, and art. It has created cultures, fostered revolutions, and stabilized regimes. The greatest print run in history produced 6.5 billion copies of "Máo zhǔ xí yǔ lù," the "Quotations of Chairman Mao Tse-Tung," while Leonardo da Vinci left behind only 15 paintings but 4,000 works on paper. In the modern age, as we approach the era of "digital paperlessness"—amid assumptions about the effects of a digitally dependent society—we find ourselves at a global historical moment to examine what paper means to culture. Through the evolution of paper, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about the influence of technology, affirming that paper is here to stay. Paper will be the story guiding us into the future of the 21st century.