Hands of Time

A Watchmaker's History of Time. 'An exquisite book' - STEPHEN FRY

Rebecca Struthers

$55

Hardback

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English

Hodder & Stoughton
25 July 2023

General & world history; Technology: general issues; Antique clocks, watches, musical boxes & automata

A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

'An exquisite book, beautifully put together... What a very wonderful book.' STEPHEN FRY

'Forty-thousand years of our relationship with time condensed into 288 pages: a hugely entertaining achievement.' ESQUIRE

'5/5 A true joy. A work of staggering complexity and bewildering economy.' TELEGRAPH

'A rattling, wonderful read.' OBSERVER

'Every page glitters' SPECTATOR

'Mesmerising' NEW STATESMAN

'Absolutely gorgeous. It blew my socks off' JAY BLADES

'An intensely personal, finely-tuned meditation. A beautiful book' EDMUND DE WAAL

'Beautiful, bewitching and brilliant' LARA MAIKLEM

In Hands of Time, watchmaker and historian Rebecca Struthers welcomes us into the hidden world of watchmaking, and to a history of time that spans centuries and continents.

The invention of timepieces was more significant for human culture than the printing press, or even the wheel. They have travelled the world with us, from the depths of the oceans to the summit of Everest, and even to the Moon. They regulate our daily lives and have sculpted the social and economic development of society in surprising and dramatic ways.

From her workshop bench, Rebecca explores the ways in which timekeeping has indelibly shaped our attitudes to work, leisure, trade, politics, exploration and mortality, and introduces us to some extraordinary devices, each with their own story to tell. Hands of Time is an intricate exploration of the history, science, philosophy, and craft of timekeeping.

By: Rebecca Struthers
Imprint: Hodder & Stoughton
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 238mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 34mm
Weight: 520g
ISBN: 9781529339031
ISBN 10: 1529339030
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 25 July 2023
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Rebecca Struthers is a watchmaker and historian from Birmingham. She co-founded her workshop, Struthers Watchmakers, in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter in 2012. Rebecca and her watchmaker husband, Craig, use heritage equipment and traditional artisan techniques to restore antiquarian pieces and craft bespoke watches. They are among the last handful of watchmakers in the UK making watches from scratch. In 2017, Rebecca became the first watchmaker in British history to earn a PhD in horology. She lives in Staffordshire with Craig, her dog Archie, cats Isla and Alabama, and Morrissey the mouse.

Reviews for Hands of Time: A Watchmaker's History of Time. 'An exquisite book' - STEPHEN FRY

An intensely personal, finely-tuned meditation on making and time-keeping. This is a beautiful book.' -- Edmund de Waal An absolutely gorgeous book about craft, time and history. Hands of Time really captures what it means to be a craftsperson and why it matters. It blew my socks off. -- Jay Blades 'Rebecca Struthers dismantles and reassembles time as she would an antique pocket watch. Beautiful, bewitching and brilliant.' -- Lara Maiklem As impeccably crafted and precisely engineered as any of the watches on which the author has worked so lovingly over the years, this book is a joy to behold and a wonder to enjoy. -- Simon Winchester 'As exquisitely-crafted as a Georgian pocket-watch, this fascinating book weaves the threads of personal memoir with the story of a profession that has until now been almost entirely overlooked. Through the lens of watch-making, a new understanding of our world history emerges. Beautifully written and endlessly fascinating, it feels like this was a story waiting to be written.' -- Tracy Borman A masterpiece. As intricate and impressive as the watches it describes. -- James Fox From 40,000 year old bone etchings, through the first tick-tock and into the nanoscale atomic world of 21st century clocks, Hands of Time is a meticulously written and captivating history. Struthers brings her unique perspective as artisan and engineer to explore both the evolution of mechanisms and the complicated ways in which timekeeping has changed human life: the more we measure this intangible cosmic property, the more precious it becomes. -- Rebecca Wragg Sykes An enthralling story of time, and of the human passion to understand and control it. Anyone who enjoyed Dava Sobel's Longitude will love it. -- Gavin Francis As an engineer I was enthralled by the intricate mechanisms Dr. Struthers brings to life so vividly. But what really struck me is her personal journey in horology, and her fascinating stories of how timepieces affected society and culture, ultimately shaping our modern lives. -- Roma Agrawal 'Every page glitters with details of her experience and the people she has learned from. The book is evidence of a lifelong labour of love, and reading it is time well spent' * Spectator *