How the printing press changed the world

"Upon its invention in the mid-1400s, the printing press . . . became a revolutionary device. It introduced literacy to the masses and led Europe out of the Middle Ages. This book explores the press' . . . history, the social and political conditions in place at the time Johannes Gutenberg invented it, and the changes the invention wrought afterward. It traces the evolution of moveable type and information dissemination up to modern electronic communications technology, examining the positive and negative effects of these developments, both in the past and on democracy and humankind"--Provided by publisher.