Chasing the Sun by Richard Cohen

This took eight years to write and I've never come across a similar book on the subject and what with the winter solstice coming up soon, Radio 4 have chosen it as their Book of the Week so you can listen to excerpts. We all talk about its presence or absence from the sky and love it and fear it in equal measure, but this looks at the sun's influence on diverse aspects of our lives and history. For instance, today I heard how the first British naval defeat since 1812 was brought about because ( pre radar) the German fleet managed to get the advantage by outmanoeuvring the British so they had the rays of the setting sun in their eyes, making it virtually impossible to see their opponents and aim their guns, over 1000 British Lives were lost. He also describes the sun's effect on skin colour, fashion.... ooh and so much more!