In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate The World

Description

In Miniature takes a big look at small things. It is a celebration of the obsessive, eccentric and meticulous, and welcomes us into the world of collectors, modellers and fans. Simon Garfield is a master of finding delight and fascination in unlikely places and here we discover flea circuses, 1,000 tiny Hitlers, miniature crime scenes, model villages and railways, minuscule food and a dozen more intricately examined pursuits. Each object considered plots the course of a new miniature byway, and in unexpected ways lets us see our world in a whole new light. It is a wide-ranging exploration of the history, psychology and fanaticism attached to working and playing in tiny worlds of our own making. We bring things down to size to understand and appreciate them. This book does the same.

Simon Garfield is the author of a number of acclaimed books of non-fiction including A Notable Woman (as editor), To the Letter, On the Map, Just My Type and Mauve. His study of AIDS in Britain, The End of Innocence, won the Somerset Maugham Award. simongarfield.com

A rare treat, convivial and smart and brimming with intrigue. Simon Garfield excavates the curiouser of small worlds where not all is as it seems - obscure and wondrous, a bit bonkers and totally fascinating, and just my cup of tea -- KEGGIE CAREW, author of Dadland Garfield's book is thrilling, touching and very, very funny -- NINA STIBBE This intriguing study of our urge to make scale models is full of bizarre stories and poignant insight . . . engaging and exuberant . . . The moral seems to be that we're all small, relatively speaking, which is perhaps why In Miniature is not only highly entertaining; it is also moving * * Observer * * If you are someone who appreciates the quirkier byways of human endeavour, there's plenty to surprise and delight in this compendium * * The Times * * Fascinating and often funny . . . As a (scaled-down) book, In Miniature is a well-built, highly polished entity. It is full of evocative sentences amusing drive-by thwacks . . . But what he also shows in abundance is the sympathetic understanding of the needs and travails of "ordinary" people that lit up his previous books * * Guardian * * In Miniature is a delicious read; quirky, unpredictable and written with a genuine savour for the subject * * Mail on Sunday * * Simon Garfield's enthusiasm . . . is irresistible . . . Garfield offers not just intriguing snapshots of curiosities but some rather interesting history lessons * * Spectator * * Delightful . . . In Miniature is fascinating, funny and, in places, unexpectedly moving . . . This book is proof of the old adage that good things come in small packages * * Literary Review * * Garfield's intelligent exploration of mankind's passion for making small versions of large objects is meticulously researched * * Daily Express, Books of the Year * * The subject matter may be all things small, but this book will be a big hit under the tree * * iNews * *