This first comprehensive history of dyslexia charts a journey that begins with Victorian medicine and continues to dyslexia becoming the most globally recognized specific learning difficulty. Philip Kirby and Margaret Snowling use a historical lens to explain current debates around dyslexia, and to reflect on the place of literacy in society.

Philip Kirby is lecturer in social science, King's College London.
Margaret J. Snowling is professor of psychology, University of Oxford, and president of St John's College.