James May's 20th Century

by James May

Our world has been transformed beyond recognition, particularly in the 20th century, and so were our lives and our aspirations. Throughout James May's Magnificent Machines , James May explores the iconic themes of the past hundred flight, space travel, television, mechanized war, medicine, computers, electronic music, skyscrapers, electronic espionage, and much more. But he also reveals the hidden story behind why some inventions like the zeppelin, the hovercraft, or the theremin struggled to make their mark. He examines the tipping points when technologies such as the car or the internet became unstoppable and gets up close to the nuts and bolt of remarkable inventions. Packed with surprising statistics and intriguing facts, this is the ideal book for anyone who wants to know how stuff works and why some stuff didn't make it.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Cars, Audiobook, Technology

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2007

About the author

James May is a British television presenter and award-winning journalist.

May is best known as co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond. He also writes a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph's motoring section. On Top Gear, his nickname is "Captain Slow", owing to his 'careful' driving style. He has, however, carried out some exceptionally high-speed driving (including taking a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed).

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

As light as a helium balloon, this seemed like a verbatim script from a TV show where viewers have the attention span of a gnat, or a lack of words can be filled with nice moving pictures. To say it skimmed histories, like that of the Apollo project or the evolution of the Internet does a injustice to the word "skimmed". Clarkson does this stuff too, but somehow much better, and you can see why he fronts Top Gear with a couple of lightweight supports. Like James May.

[Ellie Silcox]

This book is quite interesting so far. I normally find James May a little dry, but wow, he's got an amazing sence of knowledge. This book is worth a read, but probably if your into cars or something like that.

[Norma · Rating 5 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook)
"Sheds are where good things happen."

A trip with James May into his some times rather strange internal world as he looks back over the makings of the modern world and it's inventions from the Model T of 1908, through Concorde, the silicon chip, going to the moon and being able to scan 'pictures of the brain.' Perhaps a quirky, and funny, summary of highlights of the past 100 + years but with much good as well as terrifying past achievements to remember as seen through the eyes of Mr.May, author, one of the three one time Top Gear presenters, and also narrator of this book.
Great fun.

[Bruce Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want a lighter version of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Everything, here you go. Very readable, witty in parts, and providing some unexpected knowledge. For example, I didn't expect the electric guitar to be covered.
It provides lots of thought morsels. For example, In 1899 the most popular powerplant for motor vehicles was electric, so that Tesla is driving us back to the past. Or that VW was built on stolen technology? For readers with an interest in how the world we live in was built, the is a great introduction.

[Eneko Polo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simplemente entretenido y bien redactado. Se conocen detalles de lo que nos hace ser como somos en el siglo 21. Sin duda un buen sumario de los mayores avances del siglo 20. A pesar de los años que tiene no solo sigue bastante al día sino que además entretiene ver si las “premoniciones” o tendencias de hace 15 años se mantienen.

[Isaiah Seiders]

I absolutely loved this book. It was super informative and cool to learn about the history on all the things we use on near daily life. Learning about the history of the radio and radio stations was super cool. I would definitely recommend this book to people who love to learn from their reading and want to know more about the basic technology of today!

[Tony Line · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the usual James May, this is a very enjoyable read. Plenty of interesting bits of history.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eminently readable, without being too technical. A great overview of some of the technological leaps of the 20th century. I enjoy James May on Top Gear very much, and this book lets you see a little bit into his own fascination with motors and technology. Wish I could have seen the TV series, too! My dad will love this book.

[Emma Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge James May fan and i'll be honest I didn't really have a keen interest in the subjects before I picked up the book, but his passion really comes through in the writing. I admire his ability to make you really interested in something, his clear enjoyment of the topics is very contagious.

Also on a side note
I met James may when he was signing this book and he is such a nice bloke!

[Gregory Gay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting overview of the biggest inventions and technical trends of the 20th century.

Not in depth enough about any one subject, but great for a broad view. Definitely gave me a list of topics to read about later in more detail.

[Thierry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bien sur James May n'a pas l'humour caustique et ravageur de Jeremy Clarkson, mais il est plus fin, plus british. Et ce livre reprenant les plus grandes inventions de l'homme m'a appris différentes choses et anectodes et c'est très bien.

[Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a James May fan and honestly expected more from this book. If you want to learn about the history of invention you'd do we'll to read Bill Bryson's, "A Short History of Nearly Everything" instead.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks at the invention and progression of a number of modern machines. Included are the airplane, computer, spacecraft and nylon. All are described using May’s trademark wit. A fun little book.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so incredibly geeky, and I adored it.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging book written in an entertaining style covering technological advances of the 20th Century. It really is amazing the progress that was made in that time period.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really a book of trivia. But quite like May's stuff

[Richard Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

The guy is so enthusiastic. Great book to have as an audio version which is what I had.

[Kevin de Ataíde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, lots of foolishness mixed with detailed historical information, typical James May. Great time-passer.

[Peter Megyeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed it, especially how the author narrated his own book. The whole thing was really enjoyable, but maybe a little bit dry from time to time.

[Michael Macdonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming tale of invention

In a quirky humourous book, James May skips through centuries of change and addresses the drive for change that led to stealth fighters and lycra. Amusing and fun