Dinah Birch praises Robert Darnton, a passionate defender of the printed word.

A Sony Reader: ‘Whatever the future may be, it will be digital.’ Photograph: Martin Argles

Do books have a future? We're used to being told that a digital age will make them redundant, yet they don't seem to be fading away. The number of new titles published each year will soon reach a million. In this motley collection of essays on the history and future of the book, Robert Darnton points out that they have many practical advantages. Portable and accessible, they require no power supply. They have proved their durability, while today's advanced tools for storing data will be tomorrow's dinosaurs. A new technology does not always replace an older one. The internet has not yet obliterated newspapers. The printed page is not about to disappear.

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