In Latin America, Argentina and Uruguay are the most complete examples of the intersection between print media and collective identities. Nowadays a walk through the center of Buenos Aires or Montevideo reveals the strong presence of a written culture. This is reflected in the fact that since the late 1800s Argentina and Uruguay have the highest literacy rates in the region. How did written culture, literacy, and the public concern for reading and writing come to be so widely disseminated and integral practices of collective identity in both nations? How does everyday reading work? What is it that makes the link between print and the public sphere and politics in El Plata unique? Everyday reading answers these questions through a panoramic perspective of the growth of the printed culture of the River Plate from the arrival of the first printing presses on the threshold of the wars of independence until the centenary of 1910. It is a history of wars and schools, gauchos and teachers, newspapers, poetry, paper money and other ephemeral media whose impact was lasting.