For over 10,000 years, the human race has been busy altering our environment and embracing ‘progress’, evolving seamlessly from hunter-gatherers to the modern urban sophisticates we see ourselves as today.

But what are the ideas and inventions that enabled humanity to become, by the early 21st century, a majority urban species for the first time? How did the essential infrastructure of modern lifethe innovations that we barely even notice, but without which our world would fall aparthappen?

With his characteristic wit and boundless curiosity, Jonn Elledge invites us to join him on a fascinating and often surprising tour of the ideas and technologies that made modernity possible. From elevators to electric lighting, street numbering to sewers, he guides us through the history of civilisation itself.

31 Inventions that Built Our World showcases the innovations that have enabled humanity to transform from hunter-gatherers to sophisticated urbanites.