Writing is omnipresent in our lives, yet we rarely stop and consider its history and material culture. This volume introduces some of the amazing accounts of writing across time and cultures. Although an encyclopedic and global topic, the history of writing is explained in this book by drawing on fascinating chronicles and artifacts (e.g., Chinese oracle bones to typewriters). I am turning to the classic primer in providing 16 chapters that cover a range of topics succinctly, but intriguingly. Chapters include the origins of writing; tools of writing; alphabets; the printing press; the book; letters; social media; and even gods, goddesses, and patron saints of writing. Too often, we think of writing only in connection with school. The goal is to stop and consider what has been called the most significant development in human history, second only to language. Readers will be entertained and informed by some interesting facts about writing (e.g., "black market" is derived from smuggling high-quality graphite for pencils).