The index, the bit at the back of a book you mostly only turn to for reference, has a bit of a dowdy reputation – and it’s an unfair one. Dennis Duncan discusses the index’s surprising history – one that has saved heretics from the stake, kept politicians from office and proved a battleground for snarky academic rivalries.  (Ad) Dennis Duncan is the author of Index, A Brief History of the (Allen Lane, 2021). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Index-History-Dennis-Duncan/dp/0241374235/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-hexpod
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