--- description: Find out why "Index, A History of the" by Dennis Duncan is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'Index, A History of the' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a8661c231682892/698a37b7096a94dd4f6ad310/IndexAHistoryofthe.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2022 # Index, A History of the by Dennis Duncan by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  The index, tucked away in the back of a book, is often overlooked. But after reading Dennis Duncan’s delightful history of the tool, you’ll never forget to check the index again. In _Index: A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age_, Duncan traces the index’s 800-year history, from medieval monasteries and universities to its uses for the tech boom in the present day. In doing so, he makes a case that indexes have not only impacted our literary and intellectual culture, but also shaped the way we communicate and engage with power. They might even have saved lives along the way. —_Cady Lang_ **Buy Now**: _Index, A History of the_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/p/books/index-a-history-of-the-a-bookish-adventure-from-medieval-manuscripts-to-the-digital-age-dennis-duncan/18515429?ean=9781324002543 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3NOs7jc "undefined") **Contact us at** [letters@time.com](mailto:letters@time.com?subject=%28READER%20FEEDBACK%29%20Stay%20True&body=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2Fcollection-post%2F6228627%2Fstay-true%2F "undefined")**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228558/index-a-history-of-the/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228558/index-a-history-of-the/"},"headline":"Index, A History of the","datePublished":"2022-11-14T12:53:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:10:34.694Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228558/index-a-history-of-the/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a8661c231682892/698a37b7096a94dd4f6ad310/IndexAHistoryofthe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a8661c231682892/698a37b7096a94dd4f6ad310/IndexAHistoryofthe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2022/6228558/index-a-history-of-the/","name":"Index, A History of the"}}]}] ```