This book isn't a novel; it's the true story of a revolution. L'ebook a 40 ans tracks the four-decade journey of the electronic book, from its first, almost accidental experiments in the 1970s to its explosion into the mainstream by 2011.

The Story

Marie Lebert starts us off in a world of mainframe computers and early enthusiasts typing out texts by hand. She shows how Project Gutenberg began with one guy's dream of a library in his pocket. The story then moves through the 'format wars' (remember when you needed a specific device to read a specific file?), the big publishers' fear of digital, and finally, the tipping point: the arrival of e-readers like the Kindle that made the whole thing feel simple and magical.

Why You Should Read It

What I loved is how human it all feels. This isn't just about technology getting smaller. It's about librarians, hobbyists, and authors fighting to make knowledge free and portable. It connects dots I never thought about, like how early web culture directly shaped the ebooks we have today. Reading it made me appreciate the sheer amount of passion and problem-solving behind every ebook I download in two seconds.

Final Verdict

Perfect for curious readers who love their e-reader but don't know its backstory, or for anyone interested in how our digital world got built, one big idea at a time. It's a short, insightful look at a quiet revolution that happened right in our hands.