What do you think?
Rate this book
The Shortest History of Innovation
From the wheel to gene editing, new ideas shape our world.
In this dazzling, surprising and always entertaining book, bestselling author Andrew Leigh tells the story of innovation.
Innovation shapes almost every corner of our lives, yet we rarely pause to notice it. Someone had to invent nails and wheelbarrows; alphabets and books; glass windows and windscreen wipers; tin cans and synthetic dyes. From tools and technologies to fresh approaches in art and architecture, innovation surrounds us.
Leigh shows that three forces drive tinkering, teams and trade. He examines hotbeds of creativity, the forces that suppress them, and the surprising ways ideas travel across borders and disciplines. The result is a lively, compact look at the engines powering progress.
A brilliant follow-up to the international bestseller The Shortest History of Economics.
In this dazzling, surprising and always entertaining book, bestselling author Andrew Leigh tells the story of innovation.
Innovation shapes almost every corner of our lives, yet we rarely pause to notice it. Someone had to invent nails and wheelbarrows; alphabets and books; glass windows and windscreen wipers; tin cans and synthetic dyes. From tools and technologies to fresh approaches in art and architecture, innovation surrounds us.
Leigh shows that three forces drive tinkering, teams and trade. He examines hotbeds of creativity, the forces that suppress them, and the surprising ways ideas travel across borders and disciplines. The result is a lively, compact look at the engines powering progress.
A brilliant follow-up to the international bestseller The Shortest History of Economics.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 17, 2026
7 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 18, 2026
This Shortest History must have been tough to write. The concept is abstract, the timeline is the whole of human history and the geography covers the world. Compressing all of that material into 220 pages is subjective and is bound to be controversial.
But this is an entertaining volume and its brevity makes for some easy reading. It reinforces the message that humans have become a dominant species on the planet by using their individual and collective brainpower. That innovation has led us to fundamentally change our world - for better and worse - and the challenge continues to be the sharing of the benefits and limiting the damage.
See the full review at: https://www.queenslandreviewerscollec...
But this is an entertaining volume and its brevity makes for some easy reading. It reinforces the message that humans have become a dominant species on the planet by using their individual and collective brainpower. That innovation has led us to fundamentally change our world - for better and worse - and the challenge continues to be the sharing of the benefits and limiting the damage.
See the full review at: https://www.queenslandreviewerscollec...
Displaying 1 of 1 review