Contraptions Book Club
The theme for the 2025 book club is Contraptionist History. We will read a set of history books selected to explore the thesis that the story of civilization (at least since about 1200 AD) is best understood as a succession of civilization-scale machines. Each book will be discussed during the last week of the corresponding month, in a dedicated chat thread.
As an incentive, for each book you finish (post either a Kindle completion screenshot, or a selfie of yourself holding the physical book, in the corresponding chat thread), you will get one month of comped subscription. If you’re a paid subscriber, this will be added to your subscription.
2025 Picks
January: City of Fortune by Roger Crowley. Chat.
February: Empires of the Steppes by Kenneth Harl. Chat.
March: Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition by Frances A. Yates. Chat.
April:
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
November:
December: