Shrinking the world

The first email was sent less than forty years ago; by 2011 there will be 3.2 billion users. The flood of messages is ceaseless. As the toll of email mounts, reducing our time for leisure and contemplation, and separating us from each other in the lonely battle with the inbox, Freeman enters a plea for communication that is more selective and nuanced and, above all, more sociable. Drawing on the research of linguists, scientists, critics and philosophers, Freeman's history of correspondence reveals how changing methods of communication have eroded the great distances between us.