Excellent . . . Montgomery believes in the importance of smart town planning and Happy City is a compendium of its major ideas . . . It's a castigating economic, social, moral and environmental argument for planning urban spaces around the thing they affect the most: people

A valuable book ... [it says] forcefully what can't be said too much. It is surely better, most of the time, for most people, to spend as little time as possible in cars and to increase the possibilities of encountering other people and new experiences

Admirable ... past writers on this subject have mainly praised existing communities they find conducive to human well-being. Montgomery is all about creating new ones ... not only readable but stimulating. It raises issues most of us have avoided for too long

A very necessary book, that we ignore at our peril. I read it without putting it down

An important book ... deep and valuable

Brings a much-needed humanistic perspective to the wider issues of automation … a persuasive … wide-ranging book

Elegantly persuasive … In his thoughtful, non-strident way, he is simply pointing out that the cost of automation may be far higher than we have realised

Excellent … beautifully written … Put down your phone, take off your Google Glass and read this

A valuable corrective to the belief that technology will cure all ills, and a passionate plea to keep machines the servants of humans, not the other way round

Carr argues, very convincingly, that automation is eroding our memory while simultaneously creating a complacency within us that will diminish our ability to gain new skills … I had always wondered if it were possible Google Maps was ruining my sense of direction. Now I am certain of it

Fascinating … With digital technology today we are roughly at the stage we were with the car in the 1950s – dazzled by its possibilities and unwilling to think seriously about its costs … [this] nuanced account … is very good

Who is it serving, this technology, asks Carr. Us? Or the companies that make billions from it? Billions that have shown no evidence of trickling down … It’s hard not to read the chapter on lethal autonomous robots – technology that already exists – without thinking of the perpetual warfare of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four

An eye-opening exposé of how automation is altering our ability to solve problems, forge memories and acquire skills

A powerful and compelling book.

[A] full and frank account

[A] wonderful book