Seize the Daylight by David Prerau

  (out of 5 stars)

Everything I thought I knew about the origins of Daylight Saving Time was wrong. So says Seize the Daylight, an interesting small-scale popular history book. Contrary to what I'd always heard (that daylight saving started as a way to help farmers), the movement to change daylight hours started first with a moment of lush inspiration from Ben Franklin, who observed late-sleeping Parisians could use some extra daylight in the evening. Later, the essential father of the movement William Willert proposed the idea as a means for greater evening recreation. Only later did arguments for increased productivity and lessened energy usage (the latter of which had been suggested by Franklin) catch on and drive the demand for DST. Farmers, as it turned out, were among the strongest opponents throughout the years.

I always enjoy pocket histories of specific subjects, and this one fits the bill nicely. It is a very quick read at only 220ish pages, is well researched, and peppers the text with reproductions of various legislative bills and political cartoons, as well as tables listing the major locals adopting DST at various times. A nice quick history, nothing fancy with little excursion into side stories, should make for an afternoon read for most popular history buffs. Three stars.