Pandaemonium: The Coming of the Machine As Seen by Contemporary Observers, 1660-1886

This book, which was not published until 35 years after the death of Humphrey Jennings, is considered by many of his admirers to be a masterpiece to rival any of his films. It is a chronological gathering of eye-witness accounts, from the 17th to the 19th centuries, of the coming of the 'machine age'. What makes it compelling and thought-provoking is its ability to uncover hidden connections between apparently different things: from newspaper reports of men struck dead by lightning to the beginnings of the factory system; from discoveries of dinosaur bones to the growth of the railways.