The Printing Press as an Agent of Change

By Elizabeth Eisenstein

Categories: History

Historian Elizabeth Eisenstein examines how the printing press transformed Western Europe after Gutenberg in the fifteenth century. She argues that the shift from manuscripts to print changed how knowledge was stored, standardised and shared, and played a central role in the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation and the rise of modern science. First published in 1979, this classic study combined many lines of evidence into a major argument about communication and cultural change.

Recommended by 1 person

• Shane Parrish: “ This is a deeply impressive work. First published in 1979, Eisenstein was the first person to bring together a comprehensive look at the changes wrought by the printing press in Western Europe.”