Also by Simon Garfield
Expensive Habits
The End of Innocence
The Wrestling
The Nation’s Favourite
Mauve
The Last Journey of William Huskisson
Our Hidden Lives (ed.)
We Are at War (ed.)
Private Battles (ed.)
The Error World
Mini
Exposure
Just My Type
On the Map
To the Letter
My Dear Bessie (ed.)
A Notable Woman (ed.)
Timekeepers
How the World Became Obsessed with Time
Simon Garfield
Published in Great Britain in 2016 by Canongate Books Ltd,
14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE
This digital edition first published in 2016 by Canongate Books
Copyright © 2016 Simon Garfield
The moral right of the author has been asserted
For picture credits, see p.337
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 78211 319 5
eISBN 978 1 78211 320 1
To Ben, Jake, Charlie, Jack and Justine
And to the memory of Rena Gamsa
Alice: How long is forever? White Rabbit: Sometimes, just one second.
Contents
Introduction: Very, Very Early or Very, Very Late
ii) The Shortness of Life and How to Live It
2. How the French Messed Up the Calendar
3. The Invention of the Timetable
i) The Fastest Thing You Ever Did See
ii) Was Ever Tyranny More Monstrous?
ii) Just How Long Should a CD Be?
5. How Much Talking Is Too Much Talking?
i) In the Time of Moses
ii) Talking It Over
i) How You Get to the Clock
ii) Oncoming Train
7. Horology Part One: How to Make a Watch
i) A Very Difficult Floor
ii) Just What Is It about the Swiss?
8. Roger Bannister Goes Round and Round
i) The Split Second
ii) ‘I am Muybridge and this is a message from my wife’
i) We Will Crush, Squash, Slaughter Yamaha!
ii) The Boss from Hell
11. Horology Part Two: How to Sell the Time
i) Vasco da Gama Special Edition
ii) Welcome to Baselworld
iii) Uh-oh
iv) In Which We Name the Guilty Man
v) The Most Valuable Watch on the Planet
i) The Berry Season
ii) The Lean Email Simple System
13. Life Is Short, Art Is Long
i) The Clock Is a Clock
ii) White People Are Crazy
i) A Place Where Time Stands Still
ii) Living Frenchly
iii) Faster Food
15. The British Museum and the Story of Us
i) The Book of Hours
ii) Doomed and Marooned
iii) Those Who Feel Differently