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Sum of Us: A History of the UK in Data
Georgina Sturge
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'A masterpiece of storytelling' Robert Winder
Georgina Sturge, House of Commons Library statistician and author of the critically acclaimed Bad Data, explores the rich history of the times the UK has counted itself - from the revolutionary first census of 1801 to modern worries over technological surveillance.
Condensing a whole society into numbers brought hidden problems to light: mapping cholera deaths in Soho led researchers to a single deadly water pump; Florence Nightingale stunned the Victorian establishment with her diagrams showing disease was the soldier's hidden enemy; and the discovery that industries like firework-making were almost entirely staffed by women helped improve workers' rights.
Full of fascinating social detail, Sum of Us draws out the human stories captured in the vast tangle of data the UK has collected over two centuries. It provides a vital snapshot not of who we imagine ourselves to be - but who we really are.
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Praise for Sum of Us: A History of the UK in Data
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Remarkable. A history of data-gathering that is also a masterpiece of storytelling. Georgina Sturge has illuminated Britain's social history with a searching beam of good sense, always sensitive to the poetry of actual fact. - Robert Winder, author of Bloody ForeignersThis book covers a formidable scope, does an excellent job of drawing human narratives from the numbers, and encourages a critical approach, highlighting how statistics can either illuminate or cloud our judgement, depending on how they are used. - Dr Sophie Kay, Who Do You Think You Are?A fascinating and often moving journey through British data-gathering from Domesday Book right up to modern day debates about ethics. - Significance
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