An investigation of why the English alphabet is so messed up.

This project began from a long-held curiosity about how the alphabet, a tool for writing, contains so many nonsensical letters and non sequitur rules. Why does Q always need to be followed by a U? Why is W called “double-U” and not “double-V”? What’s the point of X when K and S exist? While we’re at it, what’s the point of C when K and S exist? And why is the alphabet even in that order, anyway?

All that and more are answered in Alphabet Discrepancies — a completely un-peer-reviewed book that answers every burning question you’ve had about the sorry state of our alphabet but were too afraid to ask. Follow the thread of history from Proto-Canaanite glyphs to Latin capital letters and find out once and for all why H kind of looks like a ladder.

You can read a PDF version of the book by clicking on the cover to the left, or scroll down to view a selction of spreads.