Your Life is Manufactured

From the head of the University of Cambridge's Institute for Manufacturing, an illuminating journey through the world of manufacturing and its transformational influence on our lives - and the world around us.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 FINANCIAL TIMES & SCHRODER BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Revelatory.' SUNDAY TIMES

'Fascinating.' THE TIMES

'Intensely readable.' IRISH TIMES

'Well-observed and enjoyably written.' FINANCIAL TIMES

'An extraordinarily good read.'

DAVID SPIEGELHALTER, author of The Art of Statistics

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We live in a manufactured world. Unless you are floating naked through space, you are right now in direct contact with multiple manufactured products. How often do we stop to think: where do the things we buy actually come from?

There exists a nearly invisible, awe-inspiring global system of manufacturing that enables virtually every aspect of our existence. The things we surround ourselves with take surprising and often byzantine journeys to reach us - be it the thousands of litres of water needed to make a single pair of jeans or the components of our smartphones travelling over six times around the world to reach us.

From mega-factory floors, engineering laboratories and seaports to distribution hubs, supermarkets and our own homes, Tim Minshall traces these journeys to reveal the hidden world of manufacturing.

Charting how this world came to be, Your Life is Manufactured reveals the seismic impact manufacturing has had on our lives and the natural world, exploring how it could offer us a path to a truly sustainable, more equitable future. In doing so, Minshall grants us the ability to make better choices for ourselves, our communities and the planet.

***

'An illuminating and at times mind-boggling exploration of a global choreography that means I won't look at my kettle the same way again.'

ZOE LAUGHLIN, presenter of BBC Four's How to Make

'This brilliant book shows that manufacturing is foundational to our lives, not only now but also if there is to be any hope for a sustainable future. I learned something new on every page.'

PROFESSOR DIANE COYLE, author of Cogs and Monsters

'Reading this book is like being given a personal tour of the world's factories by a real-life Willy Wonka. Brimming with insight, curiosity and wit, Tim is a masterful storyteller of the manufactured world.'

DR ANNA PLOSZAJSKI, author of Handmade: A Scientist's Search for Meaning Through Making