The History of Information

Chris Haughton uses a visual nonfiction format to examine how people have made, preserved, circulated, regulated, and disputed information. Beginning with early speech and cave art, the account ranges across written language, religious systems, state power, scientific inquiry, democratic government, mass media, consumer culture, large technology companies, polarization, and artificial intelligence. Timelines and visual explainers, including diagrams and illustrations, relate these developments to changes in visual communication. The book considers how new forms of communication can influence institutions and power, advance technology, and alter how people make sense of the world.