Why read House Numbers?

Book cover of House Numbers: Pictures of a Forgotten History

Book description

House numbers are small things that appear quietly on the walls, gates and porches of our homes and places of work. They seem to have come from nowhere and are now taken for granted in everyday life. But house numbers have their own history - one that is retrieved, assembled…

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Why read it?

1 author picked House Numbers as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Deirdre Mask

Author

I thought this book would be a dry, academic chore—it really is all about house numbers, for goodness’ sake—but the Enlightenment story of the rise of house numbers is, in its own way, a brilliant story of the making of modern government.

The author is an Austrian academic, but the book doesn’t read like other academic books—the fact that he found a sometimes thrilling story on this topic felt like a miracle the first time I read it.

From Deirdre's list on The best unexpectedly enthralling books about seemingly boring things.