How books are read is as important as what's in them,argues Williams persuasively,and her book charts her exhaustive forays into a multiplicity of sources,reading between the lines of diaries ,letters and library records to glean an understanding of'what books have meant to readers in the past.'
It has long been thought,for instance,that the print revolution of the 18th century resulted in a shift from oral to silent reading, from shared reading to indulging in a book of one's own,as books became more avaliable to a wider range of people while leisure time also increased.But,says Williams,such a clear-cut transition is difficult to trace.
