31 Inventions that Built Our World (2026)

A fascinating exploration of the history of the city by the Sunday Times number-one bestselling author of A History of the World in 47 Borders. For over 10,000 years, humans have altered their environment and embraced progress, evolving from hunter-gatherers into the modern urban society of today. But which ideas and inventions enabled humanity to become, by the early 21st century, a predominantly urban species? How did the essential infrastructure of modern lifethe innovations we barely notice, but without which our world would fall apartcome into being? With characteristic wit and boundless curiosity, Jonn Elledge takes readers on a fascinating and often surprising tour of the ideas and technologies that made modernity possible. From elevators and electric lighting to parks and pedestrian crossings, he explores the history of civilisation itself.