This book’s subject may seem rather niche, and therefore of little relevance to teaching English. However, it ticks several Programme of Study boxes, such as developing a positive attitude towards reading, and understanding different kinds of structures, and does so in a gently humorous way.

An index is more than a different version of the table of contents. Not only do these differ in how they relate to the body of the text (chronological vs alphabetical), the index may not be all it appears. Thus we learn how indexes have been used to ridicule people or bring them into disrepute. Some scholars bemoaned the way some readers used indexes: as a substitute for reading the book itself.

This book has two indexes, one computer-generated, the other compiled by an indexer, so you can compare the two.

A fascinating history of the development of the index as we know it today.

This review first appeared in Teach Secondary magazine.