David Hillman and David Gibbs: Century Makers

By MARGIE THOMSON

Some of the items in this collection of "100 clever things we take for granted which have changed our lives over the past 100 years" are more obvious than others: the contraceptive pill, for instance, or that other pharmaceutical, Prozac.

But there are many other things that are now so ubiquitous we hardly see them any more - paper clips, credit cards, running shoes, ice-blocks, child-resistant caps, soft toilet paper ...

This is a great, incidental social history, full of fascinating diversions, all adding up to the fact that we of the lucky countries live better and more easily than even the kings and queens of past centuries.

Start dipping and you'll be hooked.

Weidenfeld and Nicolson

$54.95