Rummage

Reviews / Votes

Smart and encyclopaedic...a lively and frequently surprising history of what we reuse and what we throw away. * The i Paper * Brilliantly researched and stuffed to the brim with weird and wonderful facts. Rummage lifts the lid on rubbish to reveal the story of reuse and recycling in all its fascinating glory. -- Lara Maiklem, author * Mudlarking * 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 * A marvellous history of the second and third lives of objects and, just as important, a timely reminder that there are ways out of a throw-away-society. -- Frank Trentmann, author of Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First Pertinent, fascinating and full of intricate, joyful detail. -- Annie Gray, author of The Greedy Queen Rummage overflows with detail. She rescues wonderfully bizarre artefacts from rubbish heaps to plot Britain's changing attitudes to consumption and recycling ... the way she embraces historical anecdote, social critique and personal reminiscence never seems ponderous ... By breaking down the boundaries between waste and overlooked treasure, Rummage will make us think twice about what we throw away in future. * Spectator * One of those rare books, a marvellous curiosity shop of fascinating historical gems, objects and insights, a feat of scholarship and a salutary book for our throw-away times. -- Rebecca Stott, author * Ghostwalk * Rich, meticulous, lively * Sunday Times * Wonderful...worth re-reading * Bookmunch * I enjoyed Cockayne's book immensely * Independent * An original and unusual history of recycling * TLS *