The project will research the history of book in international and transdisciplinary perspectives in Latvia, turning its main attention to the potential of books (and the written word) to promote changes in society, build the identities of communities, and facilitate the transfer and dissemination of knowledge. Over the 500 years, the history of Latvian books has proven and continues to prove that the book has a significant role in the processes of political, social, cultural, economical change. The dissemination of books has been important in the changes of thinking, circulation of knowledge and building the value systems. The perspective through books can increase the knowledge of these processes significantly because it raises the issue of the dynamics of various forms of identity at several levels: both in regional, religious and social groups, and on a wider scale by bringing attention to Latvia’s Western and European cultural orientation. Located on the border between historical Eastern and Western regions, Latvian culture has been subject to various, often competing influences, but has convincingly joined the European cultural space. The project will address the question: in which forms has the development of the printed word influenced this process and does so today.