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Alpha Beta: How 26 Letters Shaped the Western World

John Man

3.67 · Rating details · 333 ratings · 47 reviews

Praise for Alpha Beta
"This book comes at the perfect moment as we rediscover the importance in early reading of cracking the alphabetic code. The story of how that code came into being is a fascinating one, and Man is the ideal writer to tell it." Times Educational Supplement

"A richly absorbing exploration, from B.C. to PCs, of the evolution of the most fundamental chara ...more

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Hardcover, 320 pages

Published July 13th 2001 by John Wiley & Sons (first published August 24th 2000)

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Apr 15, 2020 David rated it liked it

Shelves: classical-literature, greek-language, history-general, linguistics

Alpha Beta: How 26 Letters Shaped the Western World

by John Man

I checked out Alpha Beta from the library of the Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church library where we gather sometimes for our Greek conversation class.

First, I read a little about the author, John Man, who seemed like he might be a rather interesting writer. I, as we all have probably, wondered where “X” came from or “Q” for example, but Man didn’t cover individual letters so much. Instead, he tackled the evolution of our alphab ...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Marc Weidenbaum added it

Like a lot of books with high-concept titles, this one isn't really true to its billing. It is not a biography or even a history of the alphabet as we English-speakers know it. It's a survey of all the alphabets that have battled it out over the history of humankind -- a broader editorial scope that is challenging to sum up pithily. Certainly there's an emphasis on all things A to Z, but with a lot of time spent on Chinese, Korean, Cyrillic, cuneiform, hieroglyphs, and so forth. (The Korean mate ...more

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Jan 07, 2019 Nicky rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, history

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

John Man is good at a certain kind of popular history book, as I’ve noted before. There are often elements of travelogue, and it’s usually a very easy read, with quite short chapters and not too many long quotations from sources or anything like that. It’s not the most rigorous scholarship in the world, but it’s a good way to get a handle on a subject and get an initial idea of whether you’re interested in reading more. Sometimes there are interesting titbits about ...more

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Nov 28, 2020 John Isles rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is an easy-reading account of the history of alphabets, the ancient peoples who used them, and their modern discoverers. In the course of the story the author introduces his thesis crediting the alphabet for the rise of monotheism and indeed much of western civilization; but these ideas seem to be undermined by the use of alphabetic scripts for example in polytheistic Hindu India, and the ascendency throughout most of history of the alphabet-free Chinese civilization.

I had quite a few quibb ...more

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Jul 17, 2009 Erik rated it it was amazing

While this is not a history of the twenty-six individual letters of our Roman alphabet, Man’s slender volume instead focuses on the idea (or meme) of an alphabet. More specifically, he deftly maneuvers between the development of pictorial writing systems, syllabaries, and finally alphabets first by way of Ancient China, the Near East, and then the early cultures of the Mediterranean. Of course, he doesn’t cover much new territory in the bulk of this volume that hasn’t already been explore or ela ...more

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Apr 06, 2007 orelia rated it it was ok

I can only take this book in small doses. This does not mean that I do not care for the book, but each page delves so deep into religion, history and philosophy that at times can feel overwhelming. What I greatly enjoy about this book so far is the linguistic analysis of the alphabet. I'll let you know my final thoughts when I turn that last page....My final thoughts are in. IF you are going to read this book, just stick to the first few chapters and the last chapter. This book is less about lin ...more

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Aug 06, 2018 Yibbie rated it liked it

Shelves: random-stuff

This is a wonderfully readable book about a confusing subject or group of subjects. I had never given any thought to how our alphabet developed, or the depth of study it requires. For instance, did you know that there is a whole sub-specialty dedicated to the various pronunciations of r, or that they still can’t read Etruscan? Once you think about it the alphabet is really a very confusingly inadequate thing. After all, there are so many sounds that it can’t represent, but to have a symbol for e This is a wonderfully readable book about a confusing subject or group of subjects. I had never given any thought to how our alphabet developed, or the depth of study it requires. For instance, did you know that there is a whole sub-specialty dedicated to the various pronunciations of r, or that they still can’t read Etruscan? Once you think about it the alphabet is really a very confusingly inadequate thing. After all, there are so many sounds that it can’t represent, but to have a symbol for every sound is impractical also. So why does it work?
How did it come to be? Unfortunately, there isn’t enough historical documentation to give us solid facts. That doesn’t stop researchers from manufacturing their own stories around the scanty few facts that have been uncovered. Those facts are really fascinating even if they are open to opposing interpretations. The dating of each of these evolutions is especially contested.
This is where I disagree with several of his theories. He approaches the historical record as a modern secular historian would. Because of its literary importance, he discusses the Bible quite a bit. He does not accept any miraculous even or timeline that doesn’t fit with current secular theories. I am a conservative Christian so I accept the Biblical record as correct, and that secular historians just haven’t found the evidence of it yet. Remember the Hittites? Anyway, there was a large section where he speculates quite freely about an alternate history of Israel. He is quite honest about it being his personal theory and that his method leaves the text open to interminable interpretations.
The rest of the book focusses on the evolution of the Roman alphabet from the Phoenician scripts, through the Greek, and to the modern day. That was really interesting.
For an introduction to this topic, this is a great book. The style was very engaging.
As I remember there was one curse word. There was a section that discussed Greek homosexual practices. That section is brief and there are no intimate details, but just be warned it's there. ...more

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Dec 02, 2015 Jo Coleman rated it liked it

This is a proper rambling professor book and as such I can't really decide whether it should have five stars or two. Half the time he is explaining cuneiform and the spread of the Cyrillic alphabet brilliantly, and half the time he is giffing on about anecdotes from his schooldays. I will be keeping it around for the excellent appendix of all the alphabets. ...more

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Sep 08, 2015 Remington Purnell rated it liked it

Alpha Beta is the equivalent of asking your grandmother what the depression was like but she ends up talking about her brother's socks for three hours instead. Not about the alphabet at all, but its sins are forgiven because it's still interesting and well-written. ...more

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Nov 15, 2014 Christopher Rush rated it did not like it

Take your pick: "complete shash," "utter piffle," "an embarrassment to humanity in every conceivable way," "an insult to people who think, have thought, or have accidentally bumped into people who have," "bigoted propaganda," "unbridled Antisemitism" (the only acceptable form of racism in academic circles, apparently), and possible more, but I am wholly tired of thinking about this thing (calling it a "book" is more than I can presently bear). I've read a few disappointing books this year, but m Take your pick: "complete shash," "utter piffle," "an embarrassment to humanity in every conceivable way," "an insult to people who think, have thought, or have accidentally bumped into people who have," "bigoted propaganda," "unbridled Antisemitism" (the only acceptable form of racism in academic circles, apparently), and possible more, but I am wholly tired of thinking about this thing (calling it a "book" is more than I can presently bear). I've read a few disappointing books this year, but man, this has to be the worst. As many have said, the wholly misleading title is less relevant to the content than had it just been called "Pages with Words on Them: Maybe."

Statistically, most of this book is about the Eastern world, and like most of his coterie, Man lambastes the Western world and apotheosizes the East. Except for that "insignificant" people group, the "Asiatics," Man's embarrassing epithet for the Jewish people. Yes, he calls them an "insignificant" people multiple times. Perhaps one should notify the hundreds of thousands of people who have dedicated their entire existences to exterminate said people group that they are, in reality, "insignificant." I mean, honestly. His entire section on Israel was so surfeited with vitriolic arrogance, it's incredible it got passed anyone posing as an editor. Calling the Bible "Semitic legends" is one thing, but saying there's no archaeological evidence for Abraham and therefore none of the Bible is true is an embarrassment to all thinking and pre-thinking entities. I suppose there is archaeological evidence for Chingis Khan, Julius Caesar, and all the other famous people of history whose existences by which we have but anecdotal evidence to go. Their thigh bones, for example. Or dental records. Chariot licenses replete with photographic identification, no doubt.

Fortunately, Man's summary of what the Bible says is so wholly inaccurate it could potentially be laughable over time, but while I was reading it (a generous term) I felt a spiritual kinship to King David, one of the earliest kings of this "insignificant" people, and likely experienced what Shepherd David felt internally when he first heard the cacophonous tones of that tall fellow from Gath. Laying all that aside, this book surely must be embarrassing even to an atheist. In one chapter, Man admits multiple times our understanding of Egyptian history and chronology is largely inductive, i.e., wholly made up, using the same high-quality techniques paleontologists use to tell us from bones how some dinosaurs were colorblind and disliked R&B.

As admirable as it is he admits our understanding of pre-historic cultures is as tenuous as a successful guppy-holding contest during a nor'easter aboard a capsizing schooner, he utterly elides all his waning credibility by declaring "since the Bible doesn't fit into our timeline for Egypt, the Bible is completely wrong." Man is so afraid of admitting the potential boons of Judaism or Christianity, he goes so far as to water down the work done by the widows Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint as having "made peace" among the Huaorani after their husbands were killed - and then he has the gall to imply his ethnolinguistic work among the Huaorani was even more important than what they did! Honestly. Topping all this (and, painfully, far more), he tells us at the very end of this diatribe the efforts of Tyndale (and by extension Wycliffe Bible Translators, SIL, and all the others) to translate the Bible into all the languages of the world as "anthropologically dangerous." Yes, Mr. Man, telling different people groups what other people groups believe in their own languages is dangerous - maybe you should have thought about that when you tried to tell us Westerners how much better Easterners are?

As I said before, this book has almost nothing to do with the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet. Most of the book is about how great the Chinese language and script are, how great Egypt's hieroglyphics were, how horrible Rome was for pretending the Etruscans didn't exist (and everything Etruscan is incalculably superior to everything Roman), and Cyrillic is even better than Times New Roman - and all the people who use Cyrillic, especially Stalin, are infinitely superior to people who use Roman letters (except for Man and his friends, no doubt). Man spends about 17 pages scattered throughout to eventually get to the origin of the Latin alphabet. He spends no meaningful time discussing "how 26 letters shaped the western world," which one would think he would have gotten around to, since that is the subtitle of this thing. Perhaps it's a mis-translation from the original Mongolian.

He does spend an uproarious several dozens of pages telling us authoritatively how people have guessed about the origins of the Egyptian alphabet. "Since this symbol is an ox, and that sound also begins the word for 'mother,' it's quite likely all ancient Egyptian scribes used the ox symbol when they wanted to write the letter 'm.'" It's about that sensible. All of which, he admits, is pure speculation. So much of this book is Man selecting whatever made-up origin stories he prefers from his friends and telling us in rather acerbic ways how it's probably right. Thus, when cultures such as his friends and Eastern cultures make up entire narratives to explain things without any proof, it's okay. When Israelites do it, it's an attack on everything pure and decent in the world. Seems somewhat of a double standard.

I suggest you don't read this book. It doesn't have much of anything to do with the origins or influences of the Roman alphabet. All influences have apparently been detrimental. Man has nothing accurate or respectful to say about cultures of which he doesn't approve; and when he relates anecdotes about Eastern rulers sacrificing thousands of victims, he laughs it off as something people sometimes do, goofy old tyrants. I can't understand why some people love this book. Oh, wait. Yes, I can.

Usually I give away (or when feeling mercenary sell or trade in) books I know I'm not going to read again and ones my children will likely not need or want, but I just can't give this to any other human being. I don't know anyone I dislike enough to give him or her this thing. I'll return it back to the earth, allowing it to nutrify the subterranean universe. Avoid this thing. ...more

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Jun 06, 2019 Bri Lamb rated it it was ok

Having read several books on the topic of how languages are formed, I was interested to see how Man approached the subject, but I was disappointed. The title is deceiving. Man tends to dance around the topic without getting to the real meat of the alphabet itself. It's more of an alphabet travel log, if you will. Interesting info on the cultures of the peoples who formed the alphabet but not what I was looking for in the book. I expected a bit of background info but I think it was a bit overkill ...more

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Dec 24, 2016 Richard Rogers rated it really liked it

The first three quarters of this books is awesome. It answers a bunch of half-formed questions I've always had but didn't know how to ask. The scholarship is excellent; the narrative is entertaining; the information is useful and engaging.

Until it isn't. I swear the last chapter was meant to lead into something wonderful that he forgot to write. We're learning about the Glagolitic alphabet and the history of the Russian church and the invention of Cyrillic letters and their spread to Mongolia an ...more

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Jul 17, 2017 Deane Barker rated it did not like it

Ridiculous book supposedly about the spread of the alphabet, but really about anything but that. This author hasn't found a tangent he didn't want to go off on. At any given point, I couldn't figure out if the author was talking about the purported subject, or just telling some random story about a historical figure in the name of...what?...color? Context?

I read this entire book, but the only thing I can say with any authority is that I know nothing more about the spread of the alphabet than I k ...more

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Mar 31, 2018 Sharon rated it really liked it

More than just a book about the development of the alphabet, Alpha Beta incorporates the development of languages and histories of the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern parts of the world and how alphabets impacted evolution. I was not aware that Constantine changed his name before he died to Cyril which was then used to describe the form of writing we now know as Cyrillic. John Man's writing style makes it fun to read; not all dry facts. He weaves in myths and popular bible stories making it all com ...more

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Oct 27, 2017 Reem Ka rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I am so glad that I went back to the bookstore and bought this book. It is an essential read for all of us since we are using the alphabets on a daily basis. It gives you a clear idea on the originality of the different alphabets used by different cultures. The author did an excellent work by explaining the story of how the alphabet came into being. 5 stars out of 5.

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Dec 10, 2017 Robert Monk rated it liked it

Slight, but amusing. If one knows a bit about the development of language already, there's not much to be found here. ...more

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Nov 19, 2018 Sweemeng Ng rated it really liked it

Shelves: history-books

Very good history on western literacy.

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Apr 23, 2019 Tsholo Mothibi rated it it was amazing

Beautiful, lyrical and absolutely sublime

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May 27, 2019 Alan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Not the linguistic development story I was expecting but a really interesting analysis of how power, conquest and imperialism led to written language.

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Jan 25, 2020 Stephen Bywater rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Meandering, but thoroughly engaging.

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Feb 14, 2021 David rated it really liked it

Excellent and readable account of the history of writing and alphabets. As a general history, it is recommendable.

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Jun 29, 2020 Sohini Bhattacharyya rated it liked it

John Man is one of my favourite authors. Alpha Beta was informative, but lacked flow. A clear conclusion or stance seems missing. Will possibly re-read this book to figure out if I understand it better then.

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Dec 08, 2018 Ralphz rated it really liked it

Shelves: sold

This is the history of the development of the 26 letters of the English alphabet, and it’s an interesting one, too.

I was expecting something different – maybe more a roll call of each letter, going into its development. Instead, it was more academic, and more enlightening than I had expected.

The book also concerns itself partly with the origins of written language, the move from pictographs to syllables to letters.

And about English, where the letters came from (Etruscans, we think) and where i ...more

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Jul 09, 2016 Megan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics-info-books, language-linguistics

- emphasises the significance of alphabet usage on a society's culture - how having a simple system where letters correlate to sounds can impact on power distribution
- evolution of language over time - how pictograms/cuneiform were sufficient for basic mercantile records but became limited for more complex and universal writing (e.g. Egypt's scribe class alone could master literacy), and so societies developed alphabets under certain conditions (but the book also stresses that richly nuanced and ...more

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Aug 22, 2013 Mike Dixon rated it it was amazing

As a boy, I was driven mad by the English spelling system. Then I tried to learn Japanese and realized that there are far more messy ways to record words. My thanks go out to the inventors of the alphabet.
In his excellent book, John Man traces its origins to the region between Ancient Egypt and the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East. He speculates (convincingly) that the alphabet was the work of merchants who modified the ideograms of Egypt and rendered them as sounds.
I was particularly impress ...more

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Sep 30, 2013 Bandit rated it really liked it

Fascinating reading. Genuinely interesting and, more importantly and not as ubiquitous as it ought to be among non fiction, wholly accessible book that explains among other things why this review is being written using this particular set of letters. Sort of a journey/evolution of the alphabet throughout history to get to the point where we have and utilize it today, but also a comprehensive brief history of ancient world and the way its sociopolitical structures affected and shaped the language ...more

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May 20, 2008 Kristian rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone

Recommended to Kristian by: Bill Moran, typography teacher extraordinaire

Shelves: own, design

If you like type and history and interesting things, then this is the book for you. It delves into the history of our alphabet, as well as writing systems in general, and gets into things you would never think could possibly connect with just the alphabet, but wow, what a ride.

The writing style is solid and engaging really drew me into the book. There are several anecdotes and side-stories that pop up as you read through the text that help keep everything exciting and interesting.

I would say any ...more

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Aug 18, 2009 Janie rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, linguistics, abcs

I had great hopes for this book. It's full of interesting stuff, but the way it was presented addled me and kept me from really sinking in to a deep enjoyment.

Were I to clamor for a re-make, I'd ask for
* more graphics
* clearer discussion of the orthographic terms (I'm not sure if I was at an advantage or disadvantage as a linguist; I thought he did not address the linguistically salient points between a lot of the terms but I also felt that layfolk would be confused)
* re-organize! tangents are ...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Rio Lam rated it really liked it

This book almost got me to major in Linguistics (luckily, I didn't.) John Man did a great job writing this book in such an understandable and interesting way for dummies. Although it was certainly not for entertainment and took a little effort to finish, I've earned a lot of knowledge. It provides good demonstration, explanation, and analysis. However, at some point, I got lost with too much of history.

If anyone wanted to read this book, I would tell them not to get intimidated :) It's not a ha ...more

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Jun 25, 2009 Anna rated it really liked it

This is an excellent read if you have some background in ancient near-eastern background or classics background. With a weaker background in ancient western cultures, I struggled to keep up with the names, places, and dates. However, it was worth the effort because I wanted to learn about alphabets around the world - if you're interested in Western languages especially, it's a great read. It also gave me a bit of pride in the Egyptian half of my genes for coming up with the source material, heir ...more

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About John Man

John Man

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John Anthony Garnet Man is a British historian and travel writer. His special interests are China, Mongolia and the history of written communication. He takes particular pleasure in combining historical narrative with personal experience.

He studied German and French at Keble College, Oxford, before doing two postgraduate courses, a diploma in the History and Philosophy of Science at Oxford and Mon ...more