Product Description

In the twenty-first century we have all experienced new technologies that promise to change our lives. During the nineteenth century, the bicycle evoked an exciting new world in which even a poor person could travel afar and at will. But was the "mechanical horse" truly destined to usher in a new era of road travel or would it remain merely a plaything for dandies and schoolboys?

In this, the definitive history of the bicycle, David Herlihy recounts the saga of this far-reaching invention and the passions it aroused. The pioneer racer James Moore insisted the bicycle would become "as common as umbrellas". Mark Twain was more skeptical, enjoining his readers to "get a bicycle. You will not regret it - if you live."

Because we live in an age of cross-country bicycle racing and high-tech mountain bikes, we may overlook the decades of development and ingenuity that transformed the basic concept of human-powered transportation into a marvel of engineering. This lively and engrossing history retraces the extraordinary story of the bicycle, a history of disputed patents, brilliant inventions, and missed opportunities. Herlihy shows us why the bicycle captured the public’s imagination and the myriad ways in which it reshaped our world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #285468 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Evening Standard, October 16, 2006
'...copious and colourful.'

The Western Daily Press, Febraury 5 2005
'....Herlihy has delivered a comprehensive book on the genesis of the bike.'

Synopsis
This lively and lavishly illustrated book tells the extraordinary history of the bicycle, an invention that precipitated nothing short of a social revolution. Recounting a story replete with disputed patents, brilliant inventions, and missed opportunities, David Herlihy shows us why the bicycle captured the public's imagination and the myriad ways it has reshaped our world.

Customer Reviews

A Transatlantic Revelation
I was bought this book by my Canadian son-in-law, a sports fanatic like myself. My first thoughts on opening the book were, "Oh no, it's all American". I overcame my prejudices and ploughed into the book, and I was well-pleased that I did. Cycling was big, really big, Stateside in the nineteenth century, and its rise and final near demise are a whole story in itself. However this book isn't just an American slant, and its chapters on the development of the bicycle technically are well written indeed. Don't expect anything revealing about the development of the machine or the sport over the last fifty years or so, but the rest of the book is excellent, and very well produced into the bargain. I wouldn't have bought this, but I am very pleased to own it now, and would recommend it without reservation to anyone who has any interest in the subject.