Beginning around 3500 BC with the wheel—a device that didn't catch on for a couple of thousand years—the author of A History of the World in Six Glasses zips through the eras of horsepower, trains, and bicycles, revealing how each successive mode of transit changed the world we live in. Delving into the automobile's development, Tom Standage explores the initial resistance to cars and the upheaval that their widespread adoption required. Looking ahead, Standage considers the explosive growth of ride-sharing and breathless predictions about autonomous vehicles, and ponders how we will be getting from Point A to Point B.
"A witty, expansive, evolutionary look at transportation history…. Standage nimbly touches all the bases in this sprightly historical race."—Kirkus Reviews