A MILLION YEARS IN A DAY A Curious History of Everyday Life From the Stone Age to the Phone Age

Everything you do during the day, even checking your email, has history behind it. Matthew Lloyd Davies narrates this work with an elegant British voice, drawing laughs from the author's humor as he sets scenes across time. Greg Jenner starts out with ancient Egyptian dawn rituals to explain the origin of each of your daily tasks. Some things, like train times and movable type, are obvious, but there’s much to learn as well. Listeners may not know, for example, that Plato conceived of the alarm clock. Starting with the chapter on human waste, Jenner includes some earthy language. It's quite funny but may have too much saltiness for some listeners. Overall, the barrage of facts may not sink in completely, but it’s entertaining. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2016]