Since Spring 2013, Francesca Hornak has been writing a hugely popular column in
the Sunday Times Style section, 'History of the World in 100 Modern Objects'.
Featuring a different iconic object each week, the column explores contemporary
middle-class life through the objects we fetishise. Each column is a little
vignette about a different character, such as Izzy, who's 26 and interns at
Kelly Hoppen and gets into a spat with her flatmate about a twee Oliver Bonas
cake stand, Nick, 40, who's considering the safety aspects of his children's
bike trailer and remembering his old DJing days, and Philippa, 64, who's
tussling with her Sky TV remote