100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ

Overnight NZ-wide delivery ๐Ÿš€ Thank you for supporting our 100% NZ-owned bookstore โค๏ธ

The Shortest History of Innovation

Brief Description
From the wheel to gene editing, new ideas shape our world. In this dazzling, surprising and always entertaining book, bestselling author Andrew Leigh tells the story of innovation. Innovation shapes almost every corner of our lives, yet we rarely pause to notice it. Someone had to... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3500
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
From the wheel to gene editing, new ideas shape our world. In this dazzling, surprising and always entertaining book, bestselling author Andrew Leigh tells the story of innovation. Innovation shapes almost every corner of our lives, yet we rarely pause to notice it. Someone had to invent nails and wheelbarrows; alphabets and books; glass windows and windscreen wipers; tin cans and synthetic dyes. From tools and technologies to fresh approaches in art and architecture, innovation surrounds us. Leigh shows that three forces drive innovation- tinkering, teams and trade. He examines hotbeds of creativity, the forces that suppress them, and the surprising ways ideas travel across borders and disciplines. The result is a lively, compact look at the engines powering progress. A brilliant follow-up to the international bestseller The Shortest History of Economics.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781760645533

Publisher: Black Inc.

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 February 2026

Country: Australia

Imprint: Black Inc.

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 20.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 230g

Pages: 256

About the Author

Andrew Leigh is a member of the Australian Parliament. He holds a PhD from Harvard University, and is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Before being elected in 2010, he was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. His books include The Shortest History of Economics, The Luck of Politics, Battlers and Billionaires and Randomistas.

Also by Andrew Leigh

View all
  • Randomistas
    In the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell, Randomistas is a brilliant and entertaining exploration of a hidden but vital foundation of modern life. The subject of this book could hardly be more vitalโ€”are we humble enough to admit we may be wrong, and do we care enough to learn? Randomistas is rigorous, impassioned and tremendous fun. Everyone should read it. -...
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Reconnected
    Why Australians need social connection and community, and how to create it We're all in this together. Strong social connections make communities more resilient. But today Australians have fewer close friends and local connections than in the past, and more of us say we have no-one to turn to in tough times. How can we turn this trend around? In...
    Paperback
    $4100
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Shortest History of Economics
    Explore the human story of economics ... The secret of economics is that the most powerful insights come from a handful of big ideas that anyone can follow. This small book tells a big story. From ancient times to the modern world, The Shortest History of Economics unearths the hidden economic forces behind war, innovation and social transformation. It traces...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Battlers and Billionaires
    Unpacking inequality in Australia by renowned economist and MP Andrew Leigh Is Australia fair enough? And why does inequality matter anyway? From egalitarian beginnings, Australian inequality rose through the nineteenth century. Then we became more equal again, with inequality falling markedly from the 1920s to the 1970s. Now, inequality is returning to the heights of the 1820s. The housing and...
    Paperback
    $3700
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Fair Game
    Every year, Australians break sporting world records through a combination of ingenuity, grit, and teamwork. Sport is a source of personal and national pride for millions. In this book, economist, politician, and triathlete Andrew Leigh argues that sport can embody both achievement and egalitarianism. On the starting line, what matters isnโ€™t athletesโ€™ wealth or connections but their hard work. In...
    Paperback
    $2299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Pre-order
    The Complete Book of Soccer Trivia
    Kick off hours of fun with soccer trivia from across the globe! Are you a real soccer fan? Prove it! Put your soccer knowledge to the test! With this book in hand, you'll be able to quiz yourself and your friends on the game's all-time great players and teams, as well as the coaches, fans, and important moments that helped...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Pre-order
    Out 4 Aug 2026
  • The Economics of Just About Everything
    Did you know that another 10 cm of height boosts your income by thousands of dollars per year? Or that a boy born in January is nearly twice as likely to play first grade rugby league as a boy born in December? Or that natural disasters attract more foreign aid if they happen on a slow news day? And that...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from History & Military

View all
  • Saving Elli
    One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Spy and the Traitor
    The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre is a spellbinding Cold War thriller that unravels the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who risked everything to aid the British in the battle against Soviet oppression. In meticulously researched detail, Macintyre paints a vivid portrait of espionage, double-crossing, and unparalleled bravery, giving readers a riveting glimpse into...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Betrayal
    โ€˜Tom Bower is the Inspector Morse of investigative biographers, a fluent, phlegmatic storyteller and a master of intricacies.โ€™ Sunday Times The British Crown is in crisis, with constitutional threats at home and abroad. At a landmark moment in royal history, can King Charles overcome the scandals that blight the Royal family? Can the broken bonds between the Houses of Sussex...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the authorโ€™s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Signed
    New Release
    The Chief and the Empire
    The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential Mฤori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the Pฤkehฤ world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Shattered Lands
    'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' โ€“ PETER FRANKOPAN 'This book is a revelation โ€ฆ both original and important' โ€“ MISHAL HUSAIN A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia โ€“ India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and...
    Paperback
    $3699
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Goliathโ€™s Curse
    Goliathโ€™s Curse by Luke Kemp offers a radical retelling of human history through the lens of collapse, delving into what this means for our uncertain future. This narrative spans from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond. It's grounded in the latest research and a comprehensive database of more than 440...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Women's Prize Winner
    The Finest Hotel in Kabul
    The story of a hotel. The story of a nation. When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan's first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world. More than fifty years on, the Inter-Continental is still standing. It has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Good Settler
    โ€˜Where once I saw a view as I drove around the Taranaki coast along State Highway 45, I now see confiscated land from an invasion road. The creation story I used to subscribe to, the one in which hard-working people came here and settled the land, now jars. Weirdly, even the lawn looks different. The form of things just wonโ€™t...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Banjara
    A powerful literary debut from an astonishing new Kiwi voice, focusing on the Indo-Fijian indenture system and how it affected generations across the Pacific.Rajasthan 1888: Avani Rathod, a nomad of the Banjara community, is summoned to teach a blue-eyed colonial officer the trees of her region, but instead is misled into indenture to the sugarcane plantations of Fiji. While on...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.