Excellent ... Garfield, an Englishman in his early 60s, is lucid, witty, learned and clearly a bibliomaniac ... In All the Knowledge in the World, he has produced a lively threnody to the encyclopedic impulse, or the powerful desire to grasp and encapsulate everything that is known within a single book or set of books ... A lively threnody may seem an oxymoron, but Mr. Garfield both loves encyclopedias and bewails their demise.
Simon Garfield offers a delightful curated sampling of what seekers before and after Diderot have tried to actualize ... Playful ... Garfield writes with characteristic humor ... Garfield’s deep dive into encyclopedia-making would merely involve summarizing scholars’ studies on the subject, which he acknowledges often and with reverence, if it did not also spotlight some of the wonderful, eccentric personalities that animate this history. However bookish knowledge can be, Garfield counters this tendency with a light and personable touch.
Witty and geekily eclectic ... Garfield, the author of numerous books on diverse subjects such as timekeeping, dogs and typefaces, regards the wikipedists with an admiring scepticism.
Few books begin by drawing the reader’s attention to a general lack of enthusiasm for their subject matter. Simon Garfield’s good-humoured history of the encyclopedia does just that ... He makes a good case, taking delight in the nuggets of treasure he unearths and sharing them generously ... The journalistic mode suits the author better than the demands of his historically focused discussions, which rely heavily on quotations from a relatively small number of academics. His chirpy style also occasionally grates ... Still, this is an infectiously enthusiastic history, inspired by genuine affection
A wealth of research wrapped into an eccentric, charming package ... Garfield’s great affection for his subject shines through, making this book a pleasing, intriguing read.
