Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this one more than I did, and although the topic of infrastructure in general was interesting, well-researched, and nicely summarized, I think I have two main quips with this book.

Mainly I think it is just wayyyyy too much content for one book. I can really appreciate that the author wanted to cover all aspects of infrastructure in one go, and they really tried to organize it in a thoughtful way. I just kept getting lost and wishing things were explained a bit more slowly or with more detail because there is just so much information to take in here.

(And I just don't like the author's voice, sorry. He sprinkles in too much autobiographical information for me, and rather than making it feel more personal it kept annoying me.)

Overall however I really liked the choice to introduce the various infrastructures by giving a specific city as an example each time, as I feel like I got to know the city a bit (as in travel writing), and the technologies discussed will make you think about how cities and society function more than you probably have thought about it before.

A really fascinating book for anyone who is interested in history and infrastructure. I learned so much reading this book and I think it's a great book for the (budding or otherwise) researcher and / or engineer in your life.