'Brilliantly original ... shimmering book. ... What binds this book together and gives it a numinous quality is the tenderness that the author displays for other people's ingenious leftovers, from brotherly teeth to Puritan kites.' Guardian
'Rich, meticulous, lively' Sunday Times
Rummage tells the overlooked story of our throwaway past. Emily Cockayne extracts glittering gems from the rubbish pile of centuries past and introduces us to the visionaries, crooks and everyday do-gooders who have shaped the material world we live in today - like the fancy ladies of the First World War who turned dog hair into yarn, or the Victorian gentlemen selling pianofortes made from papier-mâché, or the hapless public servants coaxing people into giving up their railings for the greater good.
In this original and fascinating new history, Cockayne illuminates our relationship to our rubbish: from the simple question of how we reuse and recycle things (and which is better), to all the weird and wonderful ways it's been done in the past. She exposes the hidden work (often done by women) that has gone into shaping the world for each future generation, and she shows what lessons can be drawn from the past to address urgent questions of our waste today.
- American Crime & Thriller Writers
- Amish Romance
- Armchair Athletes
- Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City
- Aye Write! 2019
- Aye Write! 2020
- Aye Write 2021
- Aye Write 2022 Fiction
- Aye Write 2022 Non-fiction
- BBC - The Novels That Shaped Our World
- Big Jubilee Read
- A Bit of Light Relief
- Book Week Scotland 2021
- See all
- A little romance
- Audio Featured Author - Anne Tyler
- ...and relax
- Laugh loudly and often!
- Newly Added Audiobooks
- Science Fiction
- Staff Recommends
- Travel Through Time - Historical Fiction audiobooks
- 20th Century Classics
- Masters of Suspense
- Try Something Different
- MORE LIKE: Karin Slaughter
- Top 100 Audiobooks 2019
- See all