Timekeepers. Simon Garfield

      

       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

       www.canongate.tv

      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

       1. The Accident of Time

       i) Leaving the Ground

       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?

       4. The Beet Goes On

       i) The Way to Play the Ninth

       ii) Just How Long Should a CD Be?

       iii) Revolver

       5. How Much Talking Is Too Much Talking?

       i) In the Time of Moses

       ii) Talking It Over

       6. Movie Time

       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

       9. Vietnam. Napalm. Girl.

       i) The Split Second

       ii) ‘I am Muybridge and this is a message from my wife’

       10. The Day Shift

       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

       12. Time Tactics That Work!

       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

       14. Slowing Down the World

       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

       Epilogue: Humility Watch