Take Note - by Andrew Hill (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A wide-ranging history of the uses and evolution of shorthand, and its place in the world today.

Cicero's scribe invented it. Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens and even Astrid Lindgren used it. Rivalries, adulteries and actual martyrdoms arose from it. Spycraft was reliant on it, courtroom dramas were changed by it, and feminism has an uneasy debt to it. But today, its continuing existence is at risk. So, what exactly is shorthand? What has it given us? And what would we lose if this world-changing technology disappeared?

Andrew Hill follows the story from the scribes of Ancient Rome to today's takeover of AI, revealing how a system of symbols invented to speedily transcribe speech shaped the modern world and can still offer a valuable way to record, store, and recall our brightest ideas today.

Review Quotes

Praise for On Leadership in the Headlines

"I read this in one go! It captures beautifully the 'pipework and poetry' of corporate leadership with careful analysis, wit and intelligent advice."
--Dame Clara Furse DBE, Chief Executive, London Stock Exchange, 2001-9

"Full of wisdom and with touches of deep humour, a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about what it takes to lead at the top."
--Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice, London Business School

About the Author