Blood in the Machine
Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchantby Brian Merchant
Shares rank 9 of 51 history books by recommenders
Recommended as a readable history of the Luddite movement and the workers who resisted industrial automation. No critics recorded.
Recommended as a readable history of the Luddite movement and the workers who resisted industrial automation. No critics recorded.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Clear history of the Luddite movement
“For rethinking the Luddite movement I recommend the book Blood in the Machine”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “Is it time for a Luddite Renaissance?” “a fascinating book called Blood In The Machine about the Luddites”
Comment from 30 Apr 2026 in “The More Young People Use AI, the More They Hate It” “is a good overall history of the Luddite movement”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Is it just me or techno-optimism died in the past few years?” Shows workers' reactions to automation
“Read "Blood in the Machine" if you want to see what happened to the losers of the industrial revolution.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Study found that young adults have grown less hopeful and more angry about AI” “If anyone is curious about automation and people's/worker's reaction to it, I recommend”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “MIT study finds AI can replace 11.7% of U.S. workforce” Enjoyable with pertinent examples
“I really enjoyed Merchant's book”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Luddites and AI Datacenters” “Has some pertinent examples.”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “The AI Backlash Could Get Ugly”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| Blood in the Machineby Brian MerchantThis page | 8 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“For rethinking the Luddite movement I recommend the book Blood in the Machine”
“Has some pertinent examples.”
“a fascinating book called Blood In The Machine about the Luddites”
“I really enjoyed Merchant's book”
“Read "Blood in the Machine" if you want to see what happened to the losers of the industrial revolution.”
“is a good overall history of the Luddite movement”
“If anyone is curious about automation and people's/worker's reaction to it, I recommend”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.