#AcademicRunPlaylist - 7/20/25

I did an evening run today to avoid the heat, and while taking in the nighttime Tokyo lights I listened to some books for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was "The Book-Makers" by Adam Smyth. You can tell that Smyth is a printed book fanboy given how lovingly he writes about the evolution of printed books from the dawn of the printing press to the modern day. If you're similarly a fan of typography, there's loads of descriptions and pictures here to accompany the flowery prose and stories of some important/representative printers over history. There's very little macro context here, however, so if you're more interested in the economic, social, or political impact of printed books, other texts cover it in more detail. This is also extremely Western focused, which given the changes in printed books that I'm familiar with in East Asia alone is a huge oversight. There are still some excellent stories and insight on individual printers/styles here, so it is still a worthwhile read https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/441655/the-book-makers-by-smyth-adam/9781529932669

Last was "Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire" by Sarah E. Bond. This book is as advertised - Bond methodically goes through the history of the Roman empire to demonstrate the different types of labor action and government reaction over the centuries. What emerges is a rich history of labor power well before it is often acknowledged in the West, and given how often Roman legal and historical examples are still cited today this book offers much needed context on the prevalence of unions and other instances of worker power. I would've liked a bit more on the extent to which this history influenced labor power in future centuries, as well as the influence of/interaction of other contemporary powers. Still highly recommend https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300273144/strike/