Enlarge Cover
Media/Desk Copy Request
From the #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders, a collection of 32 brief, highly entertaining and seriously illuminating histories of the inventions that built our modern world
For over 10,000 years, humans have been busy altering our environment, evolving from communities of hunter-gatherers to the independent, metropolitan sophisticates that we see ourselves as today. By the early 21st century, humans had become a majority urban species for the first time. What exactly made that possible, and how did the essential infrastructure of modern life—the innovations that we barely even notice, but without which our world would fall apart—happen?
With his characteristic wit and boundless curiosity, Jonn Elledge invites us to join him on a fascinating and often surprising tour of 35 of the ideas and technologies that made modernity possible. From elevators to electric lighting, street numbering to sewers, plumbing and lighting to walls and windows, he guides us through the history of the making of our built environment. Revealing fascinating origin stories about seemly ordinary systems and reminding us that much of the technology we take for granted was once earth-shattering, Elledge invites us to join him on an illuminating, uproarious, and often surprising tour of the history of the world as we know and live in it.
Publisher’s note: A Brief History of Cities in 32 Inventions is published in the UK under the title 31 Inventions That Built Our World.
“[A Brief History of Cities in 32 Inventions] elucidates the innovations that have enabled humans to become an urban-dwelling species, from electric lighting and windows to sewage and street numbering.”—Publishers Weekly
“Jonn Elledge is a natural raconteur with encyclopedic knowledge at his fingertips. . . . A new kind of history book for the modern age.”—Gabriella Bennett, author of How to Build a City
“I just love this book—completely fascinating and totally charming. Jonn Elledge breathes life into history and rekindles the utter magic of everyday things.”—Marina Hyde, author of What a Time to Be Alive!
“A smart, funny, and endlessly fascinating book. Elledge has a wonderful ability to take something seemingly mundane and, with great charm, use it to transform the way you see the wider world.”—Rhiannon Garth Jones, author of All Roads Lead to Rome
“Far funnier than any book about infrastructure has any right to be.”—Daniel Knowles, author of Carmageddon
“An accessible history of civilization told through the things around us we mostly take for granted but someone—usually someone quite odd—thought up in the past. Elledge’s writing style is warm, witty, and erudite, reminiscent of the late, great Douglas Adams. You will not be able to stop quoting facts from this book at everyone you meet, and they will be as amused and intrigued as you are.”—Lewis Baston, author of Borderlines
“Jonn Elledge brings an infectious enthusiasm and a joie de vivre to this masterly story of the building blocks of modern life. I loved it. Read this book to truly understand the world around you, building by building, street by street, city by city.”—Jack Cornish, author of On Every Street
“Fantastic stuff! Jonn has a real gift for making the stories of everyday objects thrilling and unputdownable.”—Jay Foreman, co-author of Map Men
“Would you like to learn some supremely nerdy facts about the history of tram, canal, rail and power networks? Door numbering systems? Windows and doors, sewers and shopping? Lifts and escalators? Go on, of course you do. Jonn has emptied his extraordinary brain and created a magnificent, unobvious tour through the underappreciated systems which form the backdrop to our lives.”—Tim Dunn, presenter of Secrets of the London Underground
“Massively entertaining. . . . Equal parts history, science and farce—but never dull.”—Jim Waterson, LondonCentric
“Fascinating and funny—it’ll have you geeking out over the most everyday things!
”—Jago Hazzard, YouTuber on trains, London, and history
