The first global history of punctuation tells the story of the marks that give voice to the written word

'So. Good. So. Sharp. So. Clear. You. Need. This. Book. Period' Lucy Mangan, author of Bookish 'A roller coaster of a story' New York Times Since the dawn of writing, punctuation has helped us tell our stories. Scribes in ancient Alexandria simplified their scrolls with full stops and commas, opening the doors of their library to the entire world. During the Renaissance, semicolons and exclamation marks empowered writers to satirise society and inject life and passion into their texts. Even today, the youngest generations creating new rules for emojis, caps and irony in the lexicon of online language. In this riotous global history, Florence Hazrat reveals the creators and rebels who made punctuation what it is today, conjuring new meanings from commas and colons, parentheses and pilcrows. Witty and original, On the Mark journeys across the world and through the evolution of language, celebrating the silent marks that infuse our words with meaning and shape our literary cultures.

"A roller coaster of a story" - New York Times

"A fascinating history... An appealing, lavishly researched scholarly inquiry into punctuation over the centuries" - Guardian

"A delightful tale ... rollicking ... crammed with fascinating facts" - Economist

"A heartily entertaining look at the characters who formed the way we write today ... A perceptive examination" - Country Life

"An intriguing history" - Telegraph

"Entertaining ... Hazrat brings an important subject to life" - Literary Review

"Delightful ... Hazrat believes that punctuation is one of the most extraordinary inventions in human history, and it's difficult to argue ... a heartily entertaining look at the characters who formed the way we write today" - Mail on Sunday