Tag Archives: Non Fiction

In My Hands Today…

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Failed State: Why Nothing Works and How We Fix It – Sam Freedman

It’s harder than ever to get a GP appointment. Burglaries go unpunished. Wages have been stagnant for years, even as the cost of housing rises inexorably. Why is everything going wrong at the same time?

It’s easy to point the finger at dysfunctional or even corrupt politicians. But in reality it’s more complicated. Politicians can make things better or worse, but all work within our state institutions. And ours are irrevocably broken and outmoded.

In Failed State, respected political analyst Sam Freedman offers a devastating analysis of where we’ve gone wrong. Speaking to politicians of all stripes, civil servants, workers on the frontline and key thinkers across the world, this book bursts with insight on the real problems that are so often hidden from the front pages. The result is a witty, landmark book that paves the way for a fairer and more prosperous Britain.
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In My Hands Today…

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History for Tomorrow: Inspiration from the Past for the Future of Humanity – Roman Krznaric

What can humankind’s rich history of radical revolts teach us about the power of disobedience to tackle the climate crisis? What inspiration could we take from eighteenth century Japan to create a regenerative economy today? How might understanding the origins of capitalism spark ideas for bringing AI under control?

In History for Tomorrow, leading social philosopher Roman Krznaric unearths fascinating insights and inspiration from the last 1000 years of world history that could help us confront the most urgent challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century. From bridging the inequality gap and reducing the risks of genetic engineering, to reviving our faith in democracy and avoiding ecological collapse, History for Tomorrow shows that history is not simply a means of understanding the past but a way of reimagining our relationship with the future. Krznaric reveals how, time and again, societies have risen up, often against the odds, to tackle challenges and overcome crises. History offers a vision of radical hope that could turn out to be our most vital tool for surviving and thriving in the turbulent decades ahead.

In My Hands Today…

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Four Shots in the Night: A True Story of Spies, Murder, and Justice in Northern Ireland – Henry Hemming

The search for justice for Hegarty’s death—his body found in broad daylight, with tape over his eyes, an undisguised hit—would deliver more than the truth. It exposed Hegarty’s status as an informant and led to protests, campaigns, far-reaching changes to British law, a historic ruling from a senior judicial body, a groundbreaking police investigation, and bitter condemnation from a US Congressional commission. And there have been persistent rumors that one of the country’s most senior politicians, the Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness, might have been personally involved in this particular murder.

Relying on archival research, interviews, and the findings of a new complete police investigation, Four Shots in the Night tells a riveting story not just of Hegarty’s death but of his role in the decades-long conflict that defined him–the Troubles. How did the Troubles really come to an end? Was it a feat of diplomatic negotiation, as we’ve been told–or did spies play the decisive role? And how far can, or should, a spy go, for the good of his country?

In My Hands Today…

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Myths of Geography: Eight Ways We Get the World Wrong – Paul Richardson

Is geography really destiny?

Our maps may no longer be stalked by dragons and monsters, but our perceptions of the world are still shaped by geographic myths. Myths like Europe being the centre of the world. Or that border walls are the solution to migration. Or that Russia is predestined to threaten its neighbours.

In his punchy and authoritative new book, Paul Richardson challenges recent popular accounts of geographical determinism and shows that how we see the world represented often isn’t how it really is – that the map is not the territory.

Along the way we visit some remarkable Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park, where you can swim between two continents; Bir Tawil in North Africa, one of the world’s only territories not claimed by any country; and we follow the first train that ran across Eurasia between Yiwu in east China and Barking in east London.

Written with verve and full of quotable facts, Myths of Geography is a book that will turn your world upside down.

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By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia – Barry Cunliffe

By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean is nothing less than the story of how humans first started building the globalized world we know today.

Set on a huge continental stage, from Europe to China, it is a tale covering over 10,000 years, from the origins of farming around 9000 BC to the expansion of the Mongols in the thirteenth century AD.

An unashamedly ‘big history’, it charts the development of European, Near Eastern, and Chinese civilizations and the growing links between them by way of the Indian Ocean, the Silk Roads, and the great steppe corridor (which crucially allowed horse riders to travel from Mongolia to the Great Hungarian Plain within a year). Along the way, it is also the story of the rise and fall of empires, the development of maritime trade, and the shattering impact of predatory nomads on their urbanneighbours.

Above all, as this immense historical panorama unfolds, we begin to see in clearer focus those basic underlying factors – the acquisitive nature of humanity, the differing environments in which people live, and the dislocating effect of even slight climatic variation – which have driven change throughout the ages, and which help us better understand our world today.