The first history of the notebook
Discover the fascinating stories behind the notebooks that changed the world – everything from Leonardo da Vinci to the Moleskine.
Scroll down to read some of the reviews or to buy a copy online.
Read the reviews
I’m delighted that The Notebook: a History of Thinking on Paper has been widely reviewed in the press. But what did the critics say?
Find out for yourself…
‘Delightful’
– Sydney Morning Herald
‘Allen takes us on an upbeat and stimulating journey… a celebration of intimacy in various guises. It includes, for example, a beautiful description of nurses who record the daily grind of people in comas so that, when they resurface, they can read about the missing weeks and months of their lives… Perhaps the most prolific note-booker of all was Leonardo da Vinci, who was always at the task. His drawings were fastidious, but his handwriting was deplorable… just one of the many curiosities in this vibrant celebration of the nursery of culture.’ (Michael McGirr)
‘Fascinating, entertaining’
– The Irish Times
‘Thinking about notebooks caused Roland Allen to wonder about their connection to creativity, culture and industry; what they could tell us about their owners; why keeping a diary brought contentment, and why the longhand form has survived the digital… Famous painters, philosophers, scientists, poets, playwrights, novelists, musicians, politicians, travellers and others generated some of their best work in notebooks. A different, fascinating, entertaining, witty approach to writing cultural history.’ (Brian Maye)
‘Haunting… beautiful’
– The Guardian
‘Roland Allen loves notebooks. Why wouldn’t he? He is, after all, a writer. In his new study he declares: “If your business is words, a notebook can be at once your medium – and your mirror.” … Allen points to evidence that maintaining a notebook with pen and paper is best for processing and retaining information. It can stave off depression and act as ballast to those struggling with ADHD. It is tactile, a form of “embodied cognition”, another example of the superiority of slowness.’ (Sukhdev Sandhu)
‘Enthralling’
– The Bookseller
‘Notebooks have long provided a place for us to record our activities and creativities. So shows this enthralling cultural history, which shows how the act of noting things down has shaped the world for centuries. It begins with the irresistible story of how Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines inspired Maria Sebregondi to create the Moleskine.’ (Caroline Sanderson)
‘A delight’
– The Idler
‘Allen’s history also demonstrates how essential the human act of recording observations is. Joan Didion’s essay On Keeping a Notebook is quoted: “Some morning when the world seems drained of wonder… I will open my notebook and there it will all be.” A delight to read, The Notebook is a reminder of our most vital tool.’ (JL)
‘Fluently and engagingly written’
– The Art Newspaper
‘Allen is almost morbidly interested in the nuts-and-bolts physicality of the objects he considers… but the personalities involved also come vividly to life: moments of curiosity or loneliness; minds trembling on the brink of a new idea… The book is fluently and engagingly written… it should do well at Christmas.’ (Keith Miller)
‘Restless, arresting’
– The Daily Telegraph
”As Roland Allen shows us in his restless, arresting new history of the notebook – which I have carefully noted and annotated – the note-making habit is nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it has made a transformative contribution to civilisation… a fine book on a fabulous subject.’ (Thomas W. Hodgkinson)
‘Surprisingly revealing’
– The Times
‘Allen suggests that the beginning of notebook culture really lies in 14th-Century Florence. It was here that merchants started using small, portable ledgers to record trades and calculate profits… they split out into every other sphere of Florentine life. Leonardo da Vinci was the biggest fan… Despite what Apple, Evernote and the like might try to tell us, the best cognitive tool available to us today was invented in the counting houses of Renaissance Florence…’ (Kathryn Hughes)
‘Fascinating stories’
– The New Statesman
‘His research is based on a variety of primary and secondary sources; his writing has the lightness of touch to turn the dry pages of notebooks into living historical documents… The fascinating stories The Notebook tells certainly make you want to take out a pen and jot down a few points.’ (Anna Aslanyan)
‘Beautifully written’
– The Spectator
‘I’m something of a notebook addict. Now I know I’m not alone… Moleskine users will love this wide-ranging history of an everyday object: it is beautifully written, and a complete delight to dip in to or read from cover to cover.’ (Alexander McCall Smith)
‘Enjoyable’
– The Times Literary Supplement
‘Allen is a relaxed and amusing guide… attuned to recent research… he has a winning enthusiasm.’ (Henry Hitchings)
‘Intriguing’
– Country Life
‘A handsome book… the key is in the subtitle, ‘thinking on paper’ which allows for the inclusion of literary, pictorial and numerical notation… this is a book to savour.’ (Jacqueline Riding)
What’s in the book?
Stories!
I found that the best way to deal with the sheer variety and unpredictability of the notebook’s history was to look at plenty of examples, famous and unknown, showing how important they could become in their users’ lives.
So you’ll see the notebooks of everyone from artists to accountants, nurses to navigators, fishermen to philosophers. And, of course, many revealing diaries, sketchbooks and writer’s journals.
Buy the book!
- Bookshop.org (UK)
- Hive (UK)
- Waterstones (UK)
- Amazon (UK, but please consider the above options first)
- Bookshop.org (US)
- B&N (US)
- Biblioasis (Canada)
- Amazon (US, but please consider the above options first)
- Boomerang (Australia, obviously)
“A fine book on a fabulous subject”
Thomas J Hodgkinson
The Daily Telegraph
Roland-Allen.com 