'Illich has rendered a great service in presenting Hugh of Saint Victor's magnum opus, Didascalicon, to a new generation of scholars and simultaneously to a broad lay public. Illich proves himself to be a formidable medievalist.' Library Quarterly

Illich discusses reading as a major part of life. His belief is that reading and studying are synonymous with a religious lifestyle, either that of a Christian monk, or those who follow Judaism. He tells of those who continue to read the scriptures when they return from the synagogue. Illich shows us how a meditative state of mind is conducive to world peace and harmony, and how this can come about if we listen to those who follow a 'bookish' lifestyle.

The book chapters are as follows:

Reading Towards Wisdom
Order, Memory and History
Monastic Reading
Lectio in Latin
Scholastic Reading
From Recorded Speech to the Record of Thought
From Book to Text

Ivan Illich  (1926 - 2002)  became a parish priest in New York in 1951. He was appointed vice-rector of the Catholic University in Puerto Rico in 1956. In 1961 he founded CIDOC (Centro Intercultural de Documentación) at Cuernavaca in Mexico where he developed many of the ideas in his books. He is the author of Deschooling Society, Celebration of Awareness, Tools for Conviviality, The Right to Useful Unemployment, Energy and Equity, Shadow Work, Gender, H2O and the Waters of Forgetfulness, ABC: The Alphabetization of the Popular Mind, Disabling Professions, and In the Mirror of the Past.

Price: £ 19.95 / $ 30.00

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9780714531571

Forthcoming: 15 September 2022

Social science

E book edition available on amazon.co.uk, amazon.com, Nook, Apple and all other ebook platforms