Do not expect an engaging never-before told story that elegantly ties the history of the index to something greater. This is just a history of the index. There is no central story and the stories told often involve insufferable British intellectuals squabbling, which the author at one point desperately relates as a boxing match in a failed effort to make it more interesting than it is.

The history of the index can be interesting and I am glad I read it and now understand how a biblical concordance eventually led to Google, but it could have been a long-form article.