About time : a history of civilization in twelve clocks An utterly dazzling book the best piece of history I have read for a long time Jerry Brotton author of A History of the World in Twelve MapsNot merely an horologists delight but an ingenious meditation on the nature and symbolism of time keeping itself Richard HolmesSince the dawn of civilisation we have kept time. But time has always been against us. From the city sundials of ancient Rome to the era of the smartwatch clocks have been used throughout history to wield power make money govern citizens and keep control. Sometimes also with clocks we have fought back.In About Time time expert David Rooney tells the story of timekeeping and how it continues to shape our modern world. In twelve chapters demarcated like the hours of time we meet the greatest inventions in horological history from medieval water clocks to monumental sundials and from coastal time signals to satellites in earths orbit. We discover how clocks have helped us navigate the world build empires and even taken us to the brink of destruction.Over the course of this global journey Rooney demonstrates how each of these clocks has shone a spotlight onto human civilisation and shows us the very real effects clocks continue to have on everything from capitalism to politics to our very identity.This is the story of time. And the story of time is the story of us.