A Brief History of Motion

Eminently readable . . . Standage writes with a masterly clarity * New York Times Book Review * The product of deep research, great intelligence and burnished prose . . . An unusually astute futurist, Mr. Standage offers observations about where we are now and where we might be heading that should be taken seriously . . . It is rare that I encounter a nonfiction author whose prose is so elegant that it is worth reading for itself. Mr. Standage is a writer of this class * Wall Street Journal * Tom Standage has a gift for explaining how our modern world came to be and might evolve. In A Brief History of Motion, his skills as a historian and his trademark insight and wit shine in a way that will make your mind whir every time you hop on a bike or get behind the wheel of a car. This book is full of surprises and an absolute delight -- Ashlee Vance, New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk Perceptive, pragmatic, but never pedestrian, this is an irrepressible survey of how we've travelled through the ages, and it zips along like the most pleasurable of journeys -- Simon Garfield, New York Times-bestselling author of Just My Type and On the Map On the past, present, and future of transportation, Tom Standage has crafted the book to read, full of anecdote and keen observation, and seamlessly written -- Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics, George Mason University, and New York Times-bestselling author of The Great Stagnation and Average Is Over Tom Standage takes us on a quick spin, from no wheels for anybody to nobody at the wheel-much of it over back roads that were entirely new to me -- George Dyson, author of Turing's Cathedral and Analogia There aren't many books this entertaining that also provide a cogent crash course in ancient, classical and modern history * Los Angeles Times on 'A History of the World in Six Glasses' * An extraordinary and well-told story on a much neglected dimension of history * Financial Times on 'An Edible History of Humanity' *