Tom Standage
Review via The Wall Street Journal
Tom Standage, the deputy editor of the Economist and one of our best writers of nonfiction, has cultivated a special niche: exploring the history of technology with an eye on both the past and the future. When he finds the right subject—such as the roots and repercussions of digital communication in his 2013 book “Writing on the Wall”—his work is both thought-provoking and scintillating. “A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next” isn’t quite in the class of its predecessor, but like all of Mr. Standage’s books, it is rewarding: the product of deep research, great intelligence and burnished prose. Moreover, he always comes up with offbeat and intriguing facts that I, for one, never knew.