Letters of Light: Arabic Script in Calligraphy, Print, and Digital Design

Very refreshing to read a beautiful written history of writing and typography centered on the Arabic writing system. Too often, when historians tell the story of writing and typography, they tell that story from the exclusive vantage of the Latin alphabet, and if those writers devote any space at all to Arabic, it’s usually a brief and unsatisfying discussion of how typography and printing didn't catch on in the Islamic world until the 19th-century (as if it was inevitable that printing would eventually catch on). What those conventional histories miss is the rich story of Arabic writing, from its close relationship to the medium of paper, to its life today on computers, and the way that story belies so much received wisdom about the nature of print and typography.For anyone interested in the story of writing, I think this book is absolutely a must-read, not only because it questions the way the story of writing has been told in the English language, but also because it takes on Arabic on its own terms, providing an excellent and exciting introduction to the mechanics and art of the script and its role in society.