{"title":"Hans Rausing David Edgerton","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"shock-of-the-old-book-hans-rausing-david-edgerton-9780195322835","title":"The Shock of the Old","description":"From the books of H.G. Wells to the press releases of NASA, we are awash in clichéd claims about high technology's ability to change the course of history. Now, in The Shock of the Old, David Edgerton offers a startling new and fresh way of thinking about the history of technology, radically revising our ideas about the interaction of technology and society in the past and in the present. He challenges us to view the history of technology in terms of what everyday people have actually used-and continue to use-rather than just sophisticated inventions. Indeed, many highly touted technologies, from the V-2 rocket to the Concorde jet, have been costly failures, while many mundane discoveries, like corrugated iron, become hugely important around the world. Edgerton reassesses the significance of such acclaimed inventions as the Pill and information technology, and underscores the continued importance of unheralded technology, debunking many notions about the implications of the \"information age.\" A provocative history, The Shock of the Old provides an entirely new way of looking historically at the relationship between invention and innovation.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50105620103441,"sku":"CIN0195322835G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50493530898705,"sku":"CIN0195322835VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51908656759057,"sku":"GOR002776324","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0195322835.jpg?v=1750940697"},{"product_id":"shock-of-the-old-book-hans-rausing-david-edgerton-9780199832613","title":"The Shock of the Old","description":"From the books of H.G. Wells to the press releases of NASA, we are awash in clichéd claims about high technology's ability to change the course of history. Now, in The Shock of the Old, David Edgerton offers a startling new and fresh way of thinking about the history of technology, radically revising our ideas about the interaction of technology and society in the past and in the present. He challenges us to view the history of technology in terms of what everyday people have actually used - and continue to use - rather than just sophisticated inventions. Indeed, many highly touted technologies, from the V-2 rocket to the Concorde jet, have been costly failures, while many mundane discoveries, like corrugated iron, become hugely important around the world. Edgerton reassesses the significance of such acclaimed inventions as the Pill and information technology, and underscores the continued importance of unheralded technology, debunking many notions about the implications of the \"information age.\" A provocative history, The Shock of the Old provides an entirely new way of looking historically at the relationship between invention and innovation.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50216546173201,"sku":"CIN0199832617G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000168612113,"sku":"NIN9780199832613","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51882787766545,"sku":"CIN0199832617A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0199832617.jpg?v=1751005954"},{"product_id":"britain-s-war-machine-book-hans-rausing-david-edgerton-9780199832675","title":"Britain's War Machine","description":"The familiar image of the British in the Second World War is that of the plucky underdog taking on German might. David Edgerton's bold, compelling new history shows the conflict in a new light, with Britain as a very wealthy country, formidable in arms, ruthless in pursuit of its interests, and in command of a global production system. Rather than belittled by a Nazi behemoth, Britain arguably had the world's most advanced mechanized forces. It had not only a great empire, but allies large and small.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Edgerton shows that Britain fought on many fronts and its many home fronts kept it exceptionally well supplied with weapons, food and oil, allowing it to mobilize to an extraordinary extent. It created and deployed a vast empire of machines, from the humble tramp steamer to the battleship, from the rifle to the tank, made in colossal factories the world over. Scientists and engineers invented new weapons, encouraged by a government and prime minister enthusiastic about the latest technologies. The British, indeed Churchillian, vision of war and modernity was challenged by repeated defeat at the hands of less well-equipped enemies. Yet the end result was a vindication of this vision. Like the United States, a powerful Britain won a cheap victory, while others paid a great price.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Putting resources, machines and experts at the heart of a global rather than merely imperial story, Britain's War Machine demolishes timeworn myths about wartime Britain and gives us a groundbreaking and often unsettling picture of a great power in action.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345740239121,"sku":"CIN0199832676G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52734618304785,"sku":"NIN9780199832675","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0199832676.jpg?v=1751195020"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-hans-rausing-david-edgerton.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}