'Brisk, simple to follow and unfussy - though the author has a way with a helpful metaphor, for which we non-experts are grateful. Only occasionally does it turn complicated; but this is where much of the fun is to be found [ . . . ] Ferrara's book is an introduction to writing as a process of revelation, but it's also a celebration of these things still undeciphered, and many other tantalising mysteries besides.'
- Daniel Hahn, Spectator
'>In Silvia Ferrara's conception of it, writing is a fragile object, nurtured over many phases of human development . . . The Greatest Invention is a celebration not of achievements, but of moments of illumination and 'the most important thing in the world: our desire to be understood.'
- Lydia Wilson, The Times Literary Supplement
'Ferrara says she wrote the book the way she talks to friends over dinner, and that's exactly how it reads. Instead of telling a chronological history of writing, she moves freely from script to script, island to island . . . She is constantly by our side, prodding us with questions, offering speculations, reporting on exciting discoveries . . . . her book doubles as a manifesto for collaborative research.'
- Martin Puchner, The New York Times Book Review
'[An] intellectually stimulating, chattily written survey of the invention and significance of writing in both the ancient and modern world.'
- Minerva magazine
'Part reconnaissance, part time machine, part ode to our complex species, Ferrara's enchanting book unearths not only our writing systems but our humanity itself.'
- Amanda Montell, author of Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language
'From Crete to Easter Island, everywhere in between, and back again, Ferrara illuminates the sheer magic that the invention of writing actually was, while also sharing the pure joy of being a scientist. Plus, the translation is exquisite.'
- John McWhorter, author of Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America