A tiempo

Since the earliest civilizations, people in all cultures have made and used watches. From the urban sundials of ancient Rome to the medieval water clocks of imperial China, and from the hourglasses that sparked a silent revolution in the Middle Ages to the observatories of the Enlightenment in India, the history of the Watches is a story of civilization's greatest achievements, but also of its worst excesses. To the rhythm of the ticking of twelve clocks from our past, this book tries to show how, for thousands of years, time has been used, politicized and turned into a weapon. With watches, elites wield power, make money, rule citizens, and control lives. And sometimes, also with watches, people defend themselves.