That paperback you just ordered online has come a long way from the clay tablets that formed the earliest books for our ancestors. It wasn't until around 3,500 B.C. in Ancient Egypt when papyrus came into use. Learn about these early days all the way through the present at the BBC's Animated History of Books.
Clicking on "Low Tech" will lead you to a text version of the timeline, while "High Tech" provides a multimedia presentation on the history of books. Be sure to explore the predictions for the future.