A fascinating and original biography of Eadward Muybridge, charting how his pioneering work in motion picture ushered in a period of technological innovation.

In 1872, Eadward Muybridge - a British photographer, who had landed in California during the Gold Rush - captured images of high-speed movement. These photographs would go on to lay the foundations for motion pictures, changing the west coast of America, and the world, forever. River of Shadows is both a bold and original biography of a true pioneer - his trailblazing work, and his complicated life - and a portrait of America on the threshold of modernity. Drawing lines from Muybridge's invention to Hollywood and Silicon Valley, Rebecca Solnit explores how this remarkable breakthrough has shaped the world today.

"A panoramic vision of cultural change" - New York Times

"Extraordinary" - Sunday Times

"A book of powerful originality" - Daily Telegraph