La historia de la información: De las pinturas rupestres a la revolución digital: un recorrido ilustrado por los avances que han transformado el mundo

by Chris Haughton, D.K. Publishing (translator)

The debut nonfiction book from bestselling author and illustrator Chris Haughton that explores the story of information throughout human history.

We are used to technology improving all the time. Next year we will have better phones, cars, and technology. What is it that makes technology improve rather than stay static or even fall into decline? The answer is information. If we can record knowledge we can collect and share it. We can continue adding to it and it grows and grows.

It hasn't always been like this. For a long time, human progress was very slow or static. At some points it felt like our progress even ran backward! But the ability to record information in the form of writing and collecting data has caused an explosion of technological progress. This book tells the story of how we came to collect information, and what it means for us.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Picture Books

144 pages, Hardcover

Published March 20, 2025

About the author

Chris Haughton is an Irish illustrator and author living in London. He was listed in Time magazine's 'DESIGN 100' for the work he has been doing for fair trade clothing company People Tree. His debut book 'A Bit Lost' was first published in English in September 2010. It has been translated into 15 languages and won 9 awards in 7 countries including the Dutch Picturebook of the Year.
'Oh No George' came out in March 2012 and has been nominated for 6 awards in 4 countries including the Roald Dahl Funny award.

Reviews

[Lian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Chris's work and this is an incredible tome of - clearly - many years of dedicated research. The content is absolutely fascinating and consistently blew me away, from the first cave paintings through hieroglyphs, the first books, morse code, the radio, TV, internet - and what might come next - absolutely riveting and eye-opening.

I also love the design of the book - sensational colour palette and fonts, and adorable illustrations...

BUT

...the microscopic font and use of dark text on dark backgrounds, meant I was almost resorting to a magnifying glass to read it. It really spoiled the book's design and accessibility.

Some of the illustrations and most of the infographics were pretty random and quite bizarre. Too small to see properly/enjoy but also terribly placed/laid out. Half the time, I had no idea what any of these images meant - they seemed redundant/confusing, and this was frustrating because part of the appeal of illustrations is not just for beauty, but for visual narrative.

There was also quite a bit of repetitive text.

For these latter issues, I really wanted to give the book 2 stars but due to the comprehensive and fascinating info, which I LOVED, I'm going for 4.

[ZeilenZauber · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘*‘ Meine Meinung ‘*‘
Hach, die Bücher vom DK Verlag sind einfach grandios. Wissen wird hier nicht trocken mit viel Text und Geschwafel transportiert, sondern mit lebendigen Illustrationen und stimmigen Farbspektren und Texten, die die Informationen präzise und verständlich auf den Punkt bringen (gewolltes Wortspiel).
Das Buch beginnt mit dem Thema Sprache und führt von Zeichnung über erste Symbole bis hin zur Schrift. Besonders erhellend fand ich, wie anschaulich gezeigt wurde, dass aus Sprache zunächst Zeichnungen und Bilder entstanden, die schließlich in Schrift mündeten.
Spätestens im nächsten Kapitel schlägt das Herz der Bücherwürmer höher: es geht um den Buchdruck. Wie er erfunden wurde und sich weiterentwickelte, wird packend dargestellt. Absolut faszinierend!
Von dort zieht sich der rote Faden durch Wissenschaft, Presse, Netzwerke und Sendetechniken. Mein persönlicher Favorit ist das Kapitel „Desinformation“. An eindrücklichen Beispielen wird verdeutlicht, wie weitreichend „fake news“ und Übertreibungen unseren Alltag beeinflussen. Gleichzeitig sensibilisiert das Buch dafür, Informationen kritisch zu hinterfragen und Fakten zu überprüfen.
Abgerundet wird das geballte Wissen mit dem Thema „Computer“. Leicht verständlich wird erklärt, wie er funktioniert. Besonders hat mir imponiert, dass der Autor auch auf die Grenzen unseres Planeten hinweist und betont, wie wichtig Nachhaltigkeit und Umweltschutz sind.
Dieses Buch ist für Kinder wie Erwachsene gleichermaßen eine spannende und wertvolle Lektüre, die ich immer wieder gern in die Hand nehme, um Wissen aufzufrischen. Und wer sich daran stört, dass die Themen nicht bis ins kleinste Detail behandelt werden, kann sich ja zu den gewünschten Inhalten weitere Informationen beschaffen.
Ein kluges und inspirierendes Buch, das Wissen lebendig macht und Lust auf mehr weckt - ganz klare 5 Informations-Sterne.
‘*‘ Klappentext ‘*‘
50.000 Jahre Geschichte der Information.
Informationen sind ein zentraler Bestandteil unserer Welt. Da die Geschichte der Information eng mit der Geschichte der visuellen Kommunikation verbunden ist, liegt es auf der Hand, sie in Grafiken zu erzählen. Chris Haughton spannt den Bogen von den ersten Höhlenmalereien bis zur Künstlichen Intelligenz und kreiert eine Text-Bild-Sprache, die ebenso dicht und komplex wie fesselnd und zugänglich ist.

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bold, inventive exploration of how humans have created, stored, and shared knowledge across time. With his signature visual style — deceptively simple yet deeply expressive with Chris' trademark art that I have loved for so long — Haughton transforms a vast, potentially overwhelming subject into something immediate, engaging, and genuinely joyful to read. It's absolutely his masterpiece.

The book traces humanity’s evolving relationship with information, from cave paintings and oral storytelling to printing presses, libraries, digital technologies, and beyond. Each spread balances clarity and playfulness, making complex ideas accessible without ever losing their depth. This is a book that rewards both first encounters and repeated readings, as layers of meaning emerge from Haughton’s design choices and narrative economy. An astonishing achievement really.

[Tony Lawrence]

First things first, this does what it says on the tin … everything from the earliest human scratchings on sticks and walls to the web, neural networks, and AI. There is even a philosophical and meta-physical endnote about the nature of the physical world, i.e. if everything is information, it may simply be in our heads!

This is the type of book I would have loved as a child, lots of pictures, colour, history & facts, and a pull-out timeline! (I was that nerdy boy) However, as an adult, I found some of the text hard to read (font size & colour contrast), and the ‘fluro’ colours grated after a while. Also, I found the politicisation of some of the collated people and events smelt a bit of editorial interference and a very modern liberal agenda. I guess I'm (over-)sensitive to such undertones; no doubt the majority of the target audience won’t notice, wherein lies the problem IMO.

[Frank Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieses Review bezieht sich auf die deutsche Edition, erschienen bei DK Deutschland unter der ISBN 3831050740.

In insgesamt 10 Kapiteln nähert sich Chris Haughton dem sehr komplexen und umfangreichen Thema „Information“. Dabei hangelt sich der Autor von den Anfängen in der Antike über die ersten Schriften bis hin zum modernen Informationszeitalter. Der Fokus liegt dabei eindeutig auf dem Informationsgehalt, wie wir in der westlichen Welt diesen Begriff verstehen.

Zu Beginn gab es allerdings nur eine Handvoll Möglichkeiten, Informationen an die nächste Generation zu übertragen. Hier ist der Blickwinkel noch global. Über die Sprache, die Zeichnung (bzw. Symbole) und schlussendlich die Schrift gelangt der Autor zum wichtigen Thema Buchdruck, eine Technik, die die damalige Welt revolutioniert hat. Das Buch behandelt aber nicht nur Themen wie Presse und Pressefreiheit, sondern auch Propaganda, Desinformation und Fake News.

Sprachlich und zeichnerisch befindet sich das Buch auf einem einfachen Niveau und ich hatte oftmals den Eindruck, als wäre die Zielgruppe Kinder. Dem ist aber nicht so und das Buch richtet sich an alle Interessierte. Hier und da wäre ein bisschen mehr Detailreichtum bzw. Tiefgang nicht verkehrt gewesen. Längere Texte sucht der Leser vergeblich, weshalb diese auch leicht zu verstehen sind.

Fazit
Es ist ein Rundumschlag durch alle Epochen der Menschheit, in der sie der Informationsgehalt und ‑fluss deutlich geändert hat. Alles unterliegt einem ständigen Wandel, so wie auch die Informationen. Da kann es sicherlich nicht schaden, wenn man sich ein wenig mit der Geschichte auseinandersetzt, um Fehler zu erkennen und diese nicht zu wiederholen.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 2 out of 5]

Visually stunning when viewed from afar, but when examined up close isn't terribly accessible (small font, low color contrast, interesting design choices for various human civilizations).

Also, while a lot of the information presented is fascinating and tries to approach the history of information from a world-based instead of western-focused focus, I was annoyed that Haughton repeatedly claims that before writing there was no information passed beyond oral storytelling...when literally 3 pages later he talks about art, markers and indexes. My dude. That IS information. That IS myth. Oral storytelling is vital to many cultures past and present, and it is vital, but it didn't exist in a vacuum. The human experience is literally obsessed with leaving tangible pieces behind to show that we were there.

There were other things, and I understand various decisions in editing were made and it's hard to condense vast swathes of history and not lose nuance or flatten history—but to not even mention the Mali empire?? Mansa Musa? Nothing but a brief mention of the Roman empire? What about neolithic cities like Çatalhöyük? Also, leaving the Americas in practically the dark on the timeline maps does Turtle Island dirty.

Anywho, I tapped out on this one around the Renaissance.

Yeah, I know the author is way more studied than I am in the history of information, but this book was a miss for me.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book about the history of information. The book is arranged in chronological order and each page spread focuses on an important development. A substantial part of the book is devoted to the 20th century, but I was more interested in the older history, so I didn't read every part. However, I am a professional librarian and I thought that the way the book explains how information is essential to human history to be particularly good. Language, writing, printing, libraries, schools, and newer technology for disseminating information have all been essential to human progress. We would not be where we are without the ability to share information widely and pass on our knowledge to future generations.

The author also did a good job acknowledging how colonialism destroyed important cultures and information while explaining that it also (fortunately or unfortunately) contributed to technological development. He draws a great picture of how a lot of Western developments would not have been possible without precursors in non-Western cultures, for example.

[Ludovica Diroma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have listened to the audiobook and reading some comments it seems that that might have been why my rating is so slow.

I have found the content mildly interesting, but not particularly ground breaking. There is no thesis behind the collection and the book is very compilatory and anedoctical, more of a long list of facts than a compelling story. There is nothing particularly original and eye opening on the examples cited except for a few points.

The book is also quite repetitive, but I imagine that’s because many parts are meant to be a graphical timeline as a reference rather than content to be read out loud. If a book is so obviously incompatible with the audiobook format, I question why was it offered as audiobook in the first place.

Maybe it’s meant to be used more as a support for the university course mentioned, maybe it’s more of a coffee table book to be consulted as needed rather than be read in one sitting, but it didn’t do it for me.

[Christy]

This book, "The History of Information" is a very interesting read that incorporates engaging visuals with facts on the history of where things have come from. From early cave paintings to modern language and civilization, this book covers things you may have pondered about or will now after reading. The book is filled with graphics, color, and images that really bring everything together. Some of the colors are quite neon, which some readers may be more sensitive to or find difficult to read due to the font color. A great book for young inquisitive minds and adult readers alike.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative but found the font size and choice, colors and lack of contrast to be hard to read.

[Makayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tbh, my only complaint is that I wish there were more. But it's a super easily digestible summary of its title. And I loved the artwork and infographics!

[Lian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Chris's work and this is an incredible tome of - clearly - many years of dedicated research. The content is absolutely fascinating and consistently blew me away, from the first cave paintings through hieroglyphs, the first books, morse code, the radio, TV, internet - and what might come next - absolutely riveting and eye-opening.

I also love the design of the book - sensational colour palette and fonts, and adorable illustrations...

BUT

...the microscopic font and use of dark text on dark backgrounds, meant I was almost resorting to a magnifying glass to read it. It really spoiled the book's design and accessibility.

Some of the illustrations and most of the infographics were pretty random and quite bizarre. Too small to see properly/enjoy but also terribly placed/laid out. Half the time, I had no idea what any of these images meant - they seemed redundant/confusing, and this was frustrating because part of the appeal of illustrations is not just for beauty, but for visual narrative.

There was also quite a bit of repetitive text.

For these latter issues, I really wanted to give the book 2 stars but due to the comprehensive and fascinating info, which I LOVED, I'm going for 4.