The Notebook

A History of Thinking on Paper

By: Roland Allen

Narrated by: Mark Elstob

A Kirkus Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2024

We see notebooks everywhere we go. But where did these indispensable implements come from? How did they revolutionize our lives? And how can using a notebook help change the way you think? In this wide-ranging history, Roland Allen reveals how the notebook became our most dependable and versatile tool for creative thinking. He tells the notebook stories of Leonardo and Frida Kahlo, Isaac Newton and Marie Curie, and writers from Chaucer to Henry James; shows how Darwin developed his theory of evolution in tiny pocket books and Agatha Christie plotted a hundred murders in scrappy exercise books; and introduces a host of cooks, kings, sailors, fishermen, musicians, engineers, politicians, adventurers, and mathematicians, all of whom used their notebooks as a space to think—and in doing so, shaped the modern world.

In an age of AI and digital overload, the humble notebook is more relevant than ever. Allen shows how bullet points can combat ADHD, journals can ease PTSD, and patient diaries soften the trauma of reawakening from coma. The everyday act of moving a pen across paper, he finds, can have profound consequences, changing the way we think and feel: making us more creative, more productive—and maybe even happier.

©2023 Roland Allen (P)2024 Profile Books, Limited

Suddenly feeling guilty for not keeping up my Diary

I’m not sure how to describe this - it’s a history of notebooks- which is sort of a history of writing- and commerce- and - well - I Really enjoyed it and will most certainly listen to it again

I thought I was going crazy, but they're just recording glitches

im on chapter 9 now and I several times for the last couple weeks I've thought I was hearing things. I often use earbuds so when I heard a weird sound in my house, I took them out, didn't hear it again, and assumed it was my brain playing some kind of trick on me. but then it happened again two more times, so I'm thinking, "wow. whats going on to make me so jumpy lately and hearing these random noises". they're only like a second but they're jarring. today I discovered they're in this book!! it's some kind of recording error. I only discovered this by lucky chance when I was trying to retrace my steps to see where I had left off after falling asleep. the example I can give you is at t=15: of chapter 8. if you prefer the time in the entire book, it's at 2:59:39/1045:40. I'm both relieved that I'm not crazy and totally perplexed how this sound might have gotten in there. the best I can describe it is it sounds like a video-game pirate....not a very good description. blink and you'll miss it, but it's there and it's happened a few times. ultimate they don't take away from the story and can easily enough be ignored if you know they're there, but very distracting and a little spooky if you dont. I'm hoping Audible or the Author or someone sees things so maybe they might look into it and correct the mistake somehow...

Enlightening new angle on history!

Excellent writing, with a wide range of different viewpoints on medieval, modern and current history… fascinating. A very original lens for exploring art, science, business, literature, and other fields from the viewpoint of notebook usage over the last 600 years. Really enlightening. The narration was professional and consistently clear, though sometimes overly dramatic and a bit grating on the ears. But still enjoyed the whole book immensely.

Remarkable read

Informative and enjoyable to read.
Never knew I could enjoy a book about notebooks and its history

A fascinating tale through notebooks

This is a fantastic tale about how something so mundane as a note book change how people interact with the world.