If Then by Jill Lepore
A brilliant, revelatory account of the Cold War origins of the data-mad, algorithmic twenty-first century, from the acclaimed and internationally bestselling author.
Lepore is a brilliant writerIt's a dream to read. -- Diane Coyle
If you're looking for beautiful writing and love history ... this is a lovely read that takes you through a history of American politics and campaigning, cold war intrigue and artificial intelligence. * Financial Times *
Jill Lepore is the pre-eminent historian of forgotten tales from America's past that throw startling light on the present. This brilliant book illuminates the future too. The story of the original data science hucksters of the 1960s is hilarious, scathing and sobering - what you might get if you crossed Mad Men with Theranos. -- David Runciman
Fascinating. * New York Times Book Review *
A person can't help but feel inspired by the riveting intelligence and joyful curiosity of Jill Lepore. Knowing that there is a mind like hers in the world is a hope-inducing thing. -- George Saunders
Jill Lepore writes history like a poet. In If Then she yet again binds lyrical story telling to meticulous archival research to tell a gigantic story from our past. She builds our present, and makes it feel so familiar and yet so contingent. -- Dan Snow
Two things make this tale worth reading. One is Lepore's brisk and confident depiction of the individuals involved...the other is her exploration of the growing power of computers to accumulate and analyse data, bringing marketing and politics into ever closer union. -- Frances Cairncross * The Literary Review *
Beautifully written and intellectually rigorous account of the origins of the science of predictive analytics and behavioral data science in the cold war era. * Financial Times *
Fascinating. -- Amol Rajan * Start the Week *
Everything Lepore writes is distinguished by intelligence, eloquence, and fresh insight. If Then is that, and even more: It's absolutely fascinating, excavating a piece of little-known American corporate history that reveals a huge amount about the way we live today and the companies that define the modern era. -- Susan Orlean
A wonderfully written history of long-forgotten computer group Simulmatics. * Financial Times *
If you're looking for beautiful writing and love history ... this is a lovely read that takes you through a history of American politics and campaigning, cold war intrigue and artificial intelligence. * Financial Times *
Jill Lepore is the pre-eminent historian of forgotten tales from America's past that throw startling light on the present. This brilliant book illuminates the future too. The story of the original data science hucksters of the 1960s is hilarious, scathing and sobering - what you might get if you crossed Mad Men with Theranos. -- David Runciman
Fascinating. * New York Times Book Review *
A person can't help but feel inspired by the riveting intelligence and joyful curiosity of Jill Lepore. Knowing that there is a mind like hers in the world is a hope-inducing thing. -- George Saunders
Jill Lepore writes history like a poet. In If Then she yet again binds lyrical story telling to meticulous archival research to tell a gigantic story from our past. She builds our present, and makes it feel so familiar and yet so contingent. -- Dan Snow
Two things make this tale worth reading. One is Lepore's brisk and confident depiction of the individuals involved...the other is her exploration of the growing power of computers to accumulate and analyse data, bringing marketing and politics into ever closer union. -- Frances Cairncross * The Literary Review *
Beautifully written and intellectually rigorous account of the origins of the science of predictive analytics and behavioral data science in the cold war era. * Financial Times *
Fascinating. -- Amol Rajan * Start the Week *
Everything Lepore writes is distinguished by intelligence, eloquence, and fresh insight. If Then is that, and even more: It's absolutely fascinating, excavating a piece of little-known American corporate history that reveals a huge amount about the way we live today and the companies that define the modern era. -- Susan Orlean
A wonderfully written history of long-forgotten computer group Simulmatics. * Financial Times *
Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University, where she teaches classes in evidence, historical methods, the humanities, and American political history. She is the author of The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity (winner of the Bancroft Prize), New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), The Secret History of Wonder Woman (winner of the American History Book Prize), If Then (longlisted for the National Book Award) and many other titles. She is a staff writer at the New Yorker, host of the podcast The Last Archive, and was the winner of the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought in 2021.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781529386158 |
| ISBN 10 | 1529386152 |
| Title | If Then |
| Author | Jill Lepore |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | John Murray Press |
| Year published | 2020-09-17 |
| Number of pages | 432 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |