{"product_id":"the-twentieth-century-the-electric-life","title":"The Twentieth Century: The Electric Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat if every machine that makes life easier also brings a new nuisance?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn The Twentieth Century: The Electric Life, Albert Robida imagines a society where electricity powers daily life. Flying vehicles fill the skies, devices crowd the streets, and invention seems to reach everywhere. This future dazzles, but it also wears people down. The question is not simply what technology can do, but what living with it feels like.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1892, this science fiction satire looks ahead to the middle of the twentieth century. Robida explores his imagined society through crowded pictures and dry jokes. He delights in invention without ignoring its irritations. Rather than a tightly plotted adventure, the book offers a busy view of a world where progress keeps bringing fresh complications.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhat you'll discover\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eElectricity at the center\u003c\/strong\u003e – Explore an imagined society where one force shapes the rhythms of everyday life.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSkies crowded with invention\u003c\/strong\u003e – Look up at flying vehicles, then down at streets packed with devices.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe nuisance of progress\u003c\/strong\u003e – Enjoy the dry humor of a future whose conveniences bring their own troubles.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eA satirist's crowded world\u003c\/strong\u003e – Discover pictures full of machines, crowds, and the bustle of an electric society.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDelight with a sting\u003c\/strong\u003e – Follow Robida's pleasure in invention alongside his sharp sense of its costs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerfect for readers who enjoy early science fiction, the history of technology, or satirical drawings, and prefer an inventive social panorama to a tightly plotted novel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOpen the first page and step into Robida's dazzling, troublesome electric future.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Library of Alexandria Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59534717124956,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1027\/9442\/8764\/files\/11377_en_ebook-front_c19.jpg?v=1792175128","url":"https:\/\/libraryofalexandria.com\/products\/the-twentieth-century-the-electric-life","provider":"The Library of Alexandria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}