The Alphabet

Contemporary Review, June, 2004

The Alphabet: Unravelling the Mystery of the Alphabet from A to Z. David Sacks. Hutchinson. [pounds sterling]12.99. xvii + 395 pages. ISBN 0-09-179506-0. This book, first published in the U.S., began life as a series of twenty-six articles in the Ottawa Citizen. In these articles and in the book Mr Sacks traces the story of how we got our alphabet, the building-blocks of language and thought which we take for granted.

It is a fascinating account that is laced through with a certain light-heartedness which keeps the story moving. The author wears his researches and learning lightly and is obviously anxious to share the discoveries he has made. He openly admits his limitations and the limitations of the conclusions reached by experts on how our alphabet can be traced back through Latin to Etruscan to Greek to Phoenician to Semitic workers/soldiers in Egypt in about 1800 BC. How letters representing sounds came to replace symbols of things and people, and how these letters moved through the centuries and across the miles is an extraordinary story. Along the way readers will be introduced to aspects of Hebrew, Greek and Latin that will intrigue and inform. This is a wonderful introduction to a complicated but vital subject of which we all need to know more. (J.M.)