Hardcover, 496 pages
English language
Published Sept. 26, 2023 by Little Brown & Company.
The true story of what happened the first time machines came for human jobs, when an underground network of 19th century rebels, the Luddites, took up arms against the industrialists that were automating their work—and how it explains the power, threat, and toll of big tech today.
The most pressing story in modern tech begins not in Silicon Valley, Seattle, or even Shenzhen. It begins two hundred years ago in rural England, when working men and women rose up en masse rather than starve at the hands of the factory owners who were using machines to erase and degrade their livelihoods.
They organized guerilla raids, smashed those machines, and embarked on full-scale assaults against the wealthy machine owners. They won the support of Lord Byron, inspired Mary Shelley, and enraged the Prince Regent and his bloodthirsty government. Before it was over, much blood would be spilled—of rich and …
The true story of what happened the first time machines came for human jobs, when an underground network of 19th century rebels, the Luddites, took up arms against the industrialists that were automating their work—and how it explains the power, threat, and toll of big tech today.
The most pressing story in modern tech begins not in Silicon Valley, Seattle, or even Shenzhen. It begins two hundred years ago in rural England, when working men and women rose up en masse rather than starve at the hands of the factory owners who were using machines to erase and degrade their livelihoods.
They organized guerilla raids, smashed those machines, and embarked on full-scale assaults against the wealthy machine owners. They won the support of Lord Byron, inspired Mary Shelley, and enraged the Prince Regent and his bloodthirsty government. Before it was over, much blood would be spilled—of rich and poor, of the invisible and of the powerful. This all-but-forgotten and deeply misunderstood class struggle nearly brought 19th century England to its knees.
We live now in the second machine age, when similar fears that big tech is dominating our lives and machines replacing human labor run high. We worry that technology imperils millions of jobs, robots are ousting workers from factories, and artificial intelligence will soon remove drivers from cars. How will this all reshape our economy and the way we live? And what can we do about it?
The answers lie in the story of our first machine age, when mechanization first came to British factories at the beginning of the industrial revolution. Intertwined with a lucid examination of our current age, the story of the Luddites, the working-class insurgency that took up arms against automation (at a time when it was punishable by death to break a machine), Blood in the Machine reaches through time and space to tell a story about how technology changed our world—and how it's already changing our future.
Made history of the past incredibly relevant to today's events.
Made history of the past incredibly relevant to today's events.
Fantastic guide from the first luddites to the luddites of today. Gen ludd would be proud. Also this is a fine example of the old saying, those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I wash it wasn't so!
Also the author did an amazing job documenting and researching the history as well as making it incredibly relevant .
Fantastic guide from the first luddites to the luddites of today. Gen ludd would be proud. Also this is a fine example of the old saying, those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I wash it wasn't so!
Also the author did an amazing job documenting and researching the history as well as making it incredibly relevant .
Book review: Blood in the Machine, by Brian Merchant.
Chant no more your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood, His feats I but little admire. I will sing the achievements of General Ludd, Now the hero of Nottinghamshire.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a rare book which felt like it opened my eyes to something new; almost life-changing in some sense with the shift in perspective. The story of the Luddites and their fight to protect their way of life.
Nowadays of course, we think of a Luddite as a backwards, anti-technology person. Indeed, we use the word as an insult, to describe somebody who doesn't keep up with the times. But this is an excellent example of 'history written by the victors'.
The Luddites had a good, fulfilling way of life - they worked to their own schedule, they spent time …
Book review: Blood in the Machine, by Brian Merchant.
Chant no more your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood, His feats I but little admire. I will sing the achievements of General Ludd, Now the hero of Nottinghamshire.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a rare book which felt like it opened my eyes to something new; almost life-changing in some sense with the shift in perspective. The story of the Luddites and their fight to protect their way of life.
Nowadays of course, we think of a Luddite as a backwards, anti-technology person. Indeed, we use the word as an insult, to describe somebody who doesn't keep up with the times. But this is an excellent example of 'history written by the victors'.
The Luddites had a good, fulfilling way of life - they worked to their own schedule, they spent time with their families. They had a career for life, with progression guaranteed. They were weavers, knitters, stockingers, and the surrounding trades. Crucially, they relied heavily on technology to provide this way of life.
What they fought against was not technology, but automation and the factory system which allowed the new entrepreneurial class to rewrite the fabric of society - without their consent and against the laws of the time - in order to redistribute wealth into their hands. The technology which allowed the wealthy to deny them work and good wages, which forced them into a life of working for the benefit of the factory owners. In the words of the Luddite George Mellor, "a soul is of more value than work or gold."
The book gives a fascinating insight into a time of profound change, and compares it with our modern era where we can see many of the same patterns being repeated. The Luddites are written about with compassion and humanity, and Merchant gives them a respect and dignity which history has denied them.
Fascinating and informative. Highly recommended if you’re curious in the origins of workers rights, unions, uprisings, etc. Does a great job of putting into focus the often ambiguous specter of the machinations that the titans of industry/big tech/etc as they wage war against the work class in the name of higher profit margins.
It does help put into context many references towards the Luddites I’ve encountered in fiction recently, most notably in Babel. I also have a new appreciation for Frankenstein that I’ve somehow missed out on in all of my counter culture exposure.
I likely need a cool down period since I am even more outraged than normal at every injustice I’ve encountered since starting this book. And let’s face it, it’s hard to turn around without being confronted by injustice.
Fascinating and informative. Highly recommended if you’re curious in the origins of workers rights, unions, uprisings, etc. Does a great job of putting into focus the often ambiguous specter of the machinations that the titans of industry/big tech/etc as they wage war against the work class in the name of higher profit margins.
It does help put into context many references towards the Luddites I’ve encountered in fiction recently, most notably in Babel. I also have a new appreciation for Frankenstein that I’ve somehow missed out on in all of my counter culture exposure.
I likely need a cool down period since I am even more outraged than normal at every injustice I’ve encountered since starting this book. And let’s face it, it’s hard to turn around without being confronted by injustice.
This is an incredibly well-researched and masterfully written book on the history of the Luddites and the first unscrupulous tech titans of the 19th century. Highly recommended read.
This book has two components, the retelling of the original Luddites and commentary on current events of Silicon Valley taking jobs. The Luddite portions are five star and wonderful. The commentary isn’t bad, but isn’t particularly insightful either.
This book has two components, the retelling of the original Luddites and commentary on current events of Silicon Valley taking jobs. The Luddite portions are five star and wonderful. The commentary isn’t bad, but isn’t particularly insightful either.
A vividly told narrative of the Luddite uprisings of the early 19th Century. Brian Merchant expertly connects the struggles of textile workers then with workers of every stripe today whose jobs are continually under threat by the bosses using the smokescreen of technology.
there wa sa lot of praise for this book and it is very up my alley, but I didn't engage as much as I wanted iwth the through line argument. still a solid read though
there wa sa lot of praise for this book and it is very up my alley, but I didn't engage as much as I wanted iwth the through line argument. still a solid read though
This should be 100 pages instead of 500
Where is Enoch's hammer?
Where is Enoch's hammer?
