Part one : invitation to reading
The mind - expanding potency of reading
Without books, history is silent
Read...everywhere, everywhen
Books - a boon to old and young
Great leaders...great readers
Books for all : public libraries
Aberrant booklove : bibliomania and book gluttony
Book lover's lament : so little time to read
Part two : the art of the pen
The mystique of authorship
The writer's life : a blend of ecstasy and torment
Advice and solace from the masters
Part three : the literary establishment
Publishers and authors : a friendly tug of war
Writing : a scant sustenance
Editorial headaches : hazardous guesses
The retail end : bookshops, antiquarians, auctioneers
Part four : the book in America - freedom to think, to write, to be informed
Benjamin Franklin : an early American booster of books
Tom Paine's pamphlets : a clarion call to independence
The nation established : reading expands, learning flourishes
Three pioneer American bookmen
The book that roused the nation.
