Interesting and very readable account of the life and work of Charles Babbage. In a lot of ways it's painful to read, as it's the story of a deeply imaginative thinker and scientist who fails to achieve his goals. Swade doesn't shy away from the times when this failure is a result of Babbage's own efforts - he could be a grumpy, impolitic individual with a penchant for shooting himself in the foot, but that at least makes him a very human subject for a biography.

What I found most interesting was the final third of the book, which covers the efforts by London's Science Museum to build, for the first time, a complete and working Difference Engine. The work that went into it is incredible, and I've never really appreciated before how much goes into finding funding for special museum pieces. I'm not sure if the Machine's still there, but next time I'm in Britain I'm going along to the Science Museum to have a look.