The Day The World Took Off goes back 100 years, then 250, 500, 1,000 and finally 10,000 years, to examine the roots of technological development.To understand how technology evolves, and why it transforms some parts of the world and not others, requires a long-term view of world history that extends well beyond the last two centuries. This book takes the reader on a dizzying global journey through history in an attempt to identify the critical conditions that caused some civilizations to flourish and others to atrophy. Using diaries and first-hand accounts, as well as drawing on the latest academic research, it comes up with some surprising answers.

The Day the World Took Off: The Roots of the Industrial Revolution

Business & Money

Dugan, Sally

Dugan, David

Economics

Channel 4 Book

Covering raids by land, air, and sea, Commando reveals the intrepid and incredible missions that were carried out in order to damage the enemy armor during WWII. Despite some early failures, the commandos would make a valuable contribution to improving British fortunes in the Second World War, and Commando reveals the dramatic triumphs and disasters of this elite fighting force.

Commando: The Elite Fighting Forces of the Second World War

History

Europe

Macmillan, UK

The first underwater tunnel (Thames), the longest suspension bridge (Clifton), the greatest railway system (Great Western), the fastest locomotive, the biggest war ship, the first transatlantic steamboat... these are the works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Victorian engineer extraordinaire and undoubtedly the last engineering giant of the Industrial Revolution. The inventions of Brunel and other pioneering engineers of the time ensured that Britain was the hub of the industrial world. As well as Brunel's, there were other pioneering engineers of the time including Stevenson who managed to float a railway across a bog and Telford who, with no formal training, went on to build some of the finest canals and bridges in the country. This is a wonderful illustrated record of some of the greatest engineering feats of the Industrial Revolution and will include blueprints, engravings, letters and diary extracts.

Men of Iron : Brunel, Stephenson and the Inventions That Shaped the Modern World

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Macmillan

Since its publication in 1905, The Scarlet Pimpernel has experienced global success, not only as a novel but in theatrical and film adaptations. Sally Dugan charts the history of Baroness Orczy's elusive hero, from the novel's origins through its continuing afterlife, including postmodern appropriations of the myth. Drawing on archival research in Britain, the United States and Australia, her study shows for the first time how Orczy's nationalistic superhero was originally conceived as an anarchist Pole plotting against Tsarist Russia, rather than a counter-revolutionary Englishman. Dugan explores the unique blend of anarchy, myth and magic that emerged from the story's astonishing and complex beginnings and analyses the enduring elements of the legend. To his creator, the Pimpernel was not simply a swashbuckling hero but an English gentleman spreading English values among benighted savages. Dugan investigates the mystery of why this imperialist crusader has not only survived the decline of the meta-narratives surrounding his birth, but also continues to enthrall a multinational audience. Offering readers insights into the Pimpernel's appearances in print, in film and on the stage, Dugan provides a nuanced picture of the trope of the Scarlet Pimpernel and an explanation of the phenomenon's durability.

Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel (Ashgate Studies in Publishing History)

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Routledge

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Books by Dugan, Sally