THE SWERVE How the World Became Modern

For those who love audiobooks regardless of genre or subject, this illuminating history of the loss, preservation, and rediscovery of ancient books will be one of the year’s memorable listening experiences. Written for a general audience, Stephen Greenblatt’s narrative is a model of classical grace and clarity, and demonstrates how superior authorship can breathe life and immediacy into the most arcane of subjects. Narrated with equal grace and command by Edoardo Ballerini, the history of the book attains added dimension in audio. The listener cannot help but compare today’s slim devices to the precarious history of books, handwritten, preserved often in single copies in monasteries, many—most—lost or destroyed after centuries of war and neglect. Ballerini is a gifted reader, attuned to every nuance and inflection of the prose. You feel at every moment that his is the perfect rendering for this word, this sentence, this book. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2011]