A path breaking study of the brain and how the invention of reading has altered man's evolution. How the brain learned to read is a startling reminder of the amazing achievements of humankind. We were never born to read, says Maryanne Wolf. No specific genes ever dictated readings development. Human beings invented reading only a few thousand years ago. And with this invention, we changed the very organisation of our brain, which in turn expanded the ways we were able to think, which altered the intellectual evolution of our species. In Proust and the Squid, Maryanne Wolf explores our brains near-miraculous ability to arrange and rearrange themselves in response to external circumstances. Wolf, a world expert on the reading brain, brings both a personal passion and a deft style to this incredible story. A pop science masterpiece on a subject that anyone who loves reading will be sure to find fascinating.