A panoramic revisionist portrait of the nineteenth-century invention that is transforming the twenty-first-century world.
The bicycle is a vestige of the Victorian era, seemingly out of pace with our age of smartphones and ridesharing apps and driverless cars. Yet across the world, more people travel by bicycle than by any other form of transportation. Almost anyone can learn to ride a bike - and nearly everyone does. In Two Wheels Good, writer and critic Jody Rosen reshapes our understanding of this ubiquitous machine, an ever-present force in humanity's life and dreamlife, and a flashpoint in culture wars for more for than two hundred years. Combining history, reportage, travelogue, and memoir, Rosen unfolds the bicycle's saga from its invention in 1817 to its present-day renaissance as a 'green machine' in a world afflicted by pandemic and climate change.
Readers meet unforgettable characters: feminist rebels who steered bikes to the barricades in the 1890s, a Bhutanese king who races mountain bikes in the Himalayas, astronauts who ride a floating bicycle in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station. Two Wheels Good examines the bicycle's past and peers into its future, challenging myths and cliches, while uncovering cycling's connection to colonial conquest and the gentrification of cities. But the book is also a love letter: a reflection on the sensual and spiritual pleasures of bike riding and an ode to an engineering marvel - a wondrous vehicle whose passenger is also its engine.
| ISBN: | 9781847923073 |
| Publication date: | 4th August 2022 |
| Author: | Jody Rosen |
| Publisher: | The Bodley Head Ltd an imprint of Vintage Publishing |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 416 pages |
| Primary Genre | History |
| Other Genres: |
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A panoramic revisionist portrait of the nineteenth-century invention that is transforming the twenty-first-century world.
The bicycle is a vestige of the Victorian era, seemingly out of pace with our age of smartphones and ridesharing apps and driverless cars. Yet across the world, more people travel by bicycle than by any other form of transportation. Almost anyone can learn to ride a bike - and nearly everyone does. In Two Wheels Good, writer and critic Jody Rosen reshapes our understanding of this ubiquitous machine, an ever-present force in humanity's life and dreamlife, and a flashpoint in culture wars for more for than two hundred years. Combining history, reportage, travelogue, and memoir, Rosen unfolds the bicycle's saga from its invention in 1817 to its present-day renaissance as a 'green machine' in a world afflicted by pandemic and climate change.
Readers meet unforgettable characters: feminist rebels who steered bikes to the barricades in the 1890s, a Bhutanese king who races mountain bikes in the Himalayas, astronauts who ride a floating bicycle in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station. Two Wheels Good examines the bicycle's past and peers into its future, challenging myths and cliches, while uncovering cycling's connection to colonial conquest and the gentrification of cities. But the book is also a love letter: a reflection on the sensual and spiritual pleasures of bike riding and an ode to an engineering marvel - a wondrous vehicle whose passenger is also its engine.
Two Wheels Good features in the following genres: History, Sports, Social and cultural history, General and world history, Bicycles and non-motorised transport: general interest and maintenance, Material culture, Cycle racing, Self-sufficiency and ‘green’ lifestyle, History: specific events and topics, Impact of science and technology on society, Sustainability, Reportage, journalism or collected columns, History and Archaeology, Motoring, Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure, Cultural studies, Cultural and media studies, Society and culture: general, Society and Social Sciences, Vehicle sports, Self Help and Personal Development, Health & Fitness, Science: general issues, Mathematics and Science, The environment, Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning, Biographies & Autobiographies, Biography, Literature and Literary studies
Two Wheels Good is available in Paperback, Hardback, Ebook
Two Wheels Good was written by Jody Rosen and published by The Bodley Head Ltd an imprint of Vintage Publishing
Two Wheels Good has 416 pages
