The Last Best Place on the Internet
A Human History of Wikipedia
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Granta Books
Publishing:5th Nov '26
£18.99
This title is due to be published on 5th November, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
A riveting and provocative book about one of the most astonishing, vital - and endangered - cultural cornerstones of our time. Wikipedia ranks among the most impressive inventions of the 21st century. Consulted by millions of people every day, it is the largest repository of human knowledge ever created, running to billions of words in hundreds of languages - all created by volunteers and available for free. In this entertaining and eye-opening book, Richard Cooke reveals the personality clashes, philosophical disputes, private obsessions, pioneering innovations, and unexpected ideas behind Wikipedia's fabled creation, extraordinary growth, and unparalleled success. He examines its profound effects on politics, business, culture, and society at large, and delves into the site's shifting reputation in establishing fact, the often hilariously fierce debates between 'Inclusionists' and 'Deletionists' about even the most obscure information, and the great peril Wikipedia faces today from bots and artificial intelligence. Based on meticulous research, unrivalled access and hundreds of hours of interviews, this is a fascinating exploration of how Wikipedia was built, why it thrived, what it represents, and what we stand to lose as the ideals behind its creation come under threat.
If you questioned why ordinary people turned out to be the best experts to write humanity's last great encyclopaedia - read on. A wonderful book about a wonderful invention -- Danny Dorling
Most people who rely on Wikipedia today know little of its beginnings. This book recovers those origin stories with fresh detail and narrative flair, and shows why they still matter in the age of AI -- Joseph Reagle
Expertly reported, alive with fascinating details, and written with remarkable narrative flair, The Last Best Place on the Internet is a powerfully engaging work of non-fiction about a subject whose monumental vastness has been hiding in plain sight for years -- Mark O'Connell
A book that presents Wikipedia as a truly human cybernetic institution has to show humans in all their complexity... This book argues with wit, citations and some 'original research' that Wikipedia is us at best and worst. Lost in an internet that is increasingly made up of algorithms trained to appeal only to our worst, Cooke demonstrates that Wikipedia has become an unexpected bastion against the advance of inhuman slop -- Owen Hatherley
Cooke leaves no stone unturned, and the result is a wide-ranging, eye-opening, and entertaining survey of the weird and wonderful world of Wikipedia -- starred review * Library Journal *
This smart appraisal of Wikipedia's first quarter-century offers insightful commentary on its scope, significance, and inner workings, but it may prove most useful as a warning about the forces threatening it... A winning work of cultural criticism. * Kirkus *
An invaluable peek into the history of the modern world at a very crucial time in our information landscape. Cooke navigates the politics, the prose, and the philosophy of knowledge with wit and candour, giving me a cautiously optimistic feeling about the future -- Aleks Krotoski
ISBN: 9781783788125
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
320 pages