David V. Herlihy
The first comprehensive history of the bicycleâ€”lavishly illustrated with images spanning two centuries, During the nineteenth century, the bicycle evoked an exciting new world in which even a poor person could travel afar and at will. But was the â€œmechanical horseâ€ truly destined to usher in a new era of road travel or would it remain merely a plaything for dandies and schoolboys? In ,Bicycle: The History ,(named by ,Outside, magazine as the #1 book on bicycles), David Herlihy recounts the saga of this far-reaching invention and the passions it aroused. The pioneer racer James Moore insisted the bicycle would become â€œas common as umbrellas.â€ Mark Twain was more skeptical, enjoining his readers to â€œget a bicycle. You will not regret itâ€”if you live.â€, Because we live in an age of cross-country bicycle racing and high-tech mountain bikes, we may overlook the decades of development and ingenuity that transformed the basic concept of human-powered transportation into a marvel of engineering. This lively and engrossing history retraces the extraordinary story of the bicycleâ€”a history of disputed patents, brilliant inventions, and missed opportunities. Herlihy shows us why the bicycle captured the publicâ€™s imagination and the myriad ways in which it reshaped our world.
History,Nonfiction,Sports,Cycling,Transport,Bicycles,Sports,Sports,History,Microhistory
Bicycle: The History