Cover -- Contents -- Tables and graphs -- Illustrations -- Introduction -- 1 Reading culture -- 2 From a historical standpoint -- 3 From the present-day standpoint -- 4 From the standpoint of discourse -- 5 From the statistical standpoint -- 6 From the standpoint of reading life-stories -- 7 From a comparative standpoint -- 8 From the participants' and experts' standpoints -- 9 Reading in times of civilizational fatigue -- Bibliography -- Appendices -- Index.