This book is a collection of interviews conducted by researcher Marie Lebert over many years. She talks to the key people—programmers, librarians, activists, and entrepreneurs—who were there at the very beginning of the digital book revolution. The book covers the early days of Project Gutenberg, the creation of the first e-readers, and the global push to make knowledge free and accessible online. It's structured as a series of personal conversations, jumping from San Francisco to Europe to Latin America, showing how a worldwide movement was built one connection at a time.

Why You Should Read It

What makes this book special is its focus on people, not just products. You get to hear directly from the visionaries and tinkerers. They share their excitement, their setbacks, and their belief that books should be for everyone. Reading it feels like discovering the origin story of your own bookshelf. It connects the dots between that free classic you downloaded and the passionate individuals who fought to make it available. It’s a hopeful reminder that big changes often start with simple, shared ideas.

Final Verdict

This is a perfect pick for anyone who loves books and is curious about the internet's history. It’s especially great if you enjoy behind-the-scenes stories about how our world got built. The multilingual format (French, English, Spanish) adds a cool, authentic layer, showing this was a truly global effort. It’s not a heavy tech manual; it’s a series of human stories that explain why your e-reader or library app exists. A really insightful, grounding read.