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Politics
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The unwinding
Just over a decade into the new millennium, America is beset by a sense of crisis. The seismic shifts that occurred in the space of a generation have created a country of winners and losers, leaving the social contract in pieces. In 'The Unwinding', George Packer narrates the story of America over the past three decades, bringing to the task his empathy with people facing difficult challenges, his sharp eye for detail and a gift for weaving together engaging narratives.
£14.99
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Doppelganger
When Naomi Klein discovered that a woman who shared her first name, but had radically different, harmful views, was getting chronically mistaken for her, it seemed too ridiculous to take seriously. Then suddenly it wasn't. She started to find herself grappling with a distorted sense of reality, becoming obsessed with reading the threats on social media, the endlessly scrolling insults from the followers of her doppelganger. Why had her shadowy other gone down such an extreme path? Why was identity - all we have to meet the world - so unstable? To find out, Klein decided to follow her double into a bizarre, uncanny mirror world: one of conspiracy theories, anti-vaxxers and demagogue hucksters, where soft-focus wellness influencers make common cause with fire-breathing far right propagandists (all in the name of protecting 'the children').
£12.99
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Politics on the edge
Over the course of a decade from 2010, Rory Stewart went from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister - before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise. Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow and inadequate our democracy and government had become. Cronyism, ignorance and sheer incompetence ran rampant. Around him, individual politicians laid the foundations for the political and economic chaos of today. Stewart emerged battered but with a profound affection for his constituency of Penrith and the Border, and a deep direct insight into the era of populism and global conflict. This book invites us into the mind of one of the most interesting actors on the British political stage.
£10.99
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This is Europe
A vivid portrait of Europe as you've never seen it before, told through the extraordinary stories of the people who live and breathe it.
£12.99
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How to be a patriot
How do we define patriotism in a diverse society?What divides us and what brings us together?Why do we feel uncomfortable celebrating our country's history?
£10.99
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The abuse of power
As Prime Minister for three years and Home Secretary for six years, Theresa May confronted a series of issues in which the abuse of power led to devastating results for individuals and significantly damaged the reputation of, and trust in, public institutions and politicians. From the Hillsborough and Grenfell tragedies, to the Daniel Morgan case and parliamentary scandals, the powerful repeatedly chose to use their power not in the interests of the powerless but to serve themselves or to protect the organisation to which they belonged. This book presents a searing exposé of injustice and an impassioned call to exercise power for the greater good. Drawing on examples from domestic and international affairs she was personally involved in at the highest level, the former Prime Minister argues for a radical rethink in how we approach our politics and public life.
£12.99
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The Nutmeg's Curse
Before the 18th century, every single nutmeg in the world originated around a group of small volcanic islands east of Java, known as the Banda Islands. As the nutmeg made its way across the known world, they became immensely valuable - in 16th century Europe, just a handful could buy a house. It was not long before European traders became conquerors, and the indigenous Bandanese communities - and the islands themselves - would pay a high price for access to this precious commodity. Yet the bloody fate of the Banda Islands forewarns of a threat to our present day. Amitav Ghosh argues that the nutmeg's violent trajectory from its native islands is revealing of a wider colonial mindset which justifies the exploitation of human life and the natural environment, and which dominates geopolitics to this day.
£12.99
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Good Chaps
The 'Good Chaps' theory holds that those who rise to power in the UK can be trusted to follow the rules and do the right thing. They're good chaps, after all. Yet Britain appears to have been taken over by bad chaps, and politics is awash with financial scandals, donors who have practically bought shares in political parties, and a shameless contempt for the rules. Simon Kuper, author of the Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller 'Chums', exposes how corruption took control of public life, and asks: how can we get politicians to behave like good chaps again?
£9.99
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How to survive a crisis
Coincidental bad luck can easily cause a situation to spiral out of control. By then, it might be next to impossible to pull things back together, and there's a real crisis to manage rather than just a local emergency. Slow burning crises, and bad luck, happen more often than they should in the world of business and politics. Professor Sir David Omand, formerly both a director of GCHQ and the UK's Security and Intelligence Coordinator, shows how to manage crises in myriad forms, using methodologies employed by the British intelligence agencies. Through examples from his storied career, including from the COBRA room in government, to lessons from historic crises such as Chernobyl or the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, he equips you with military intelligence techniques such as situational awareness and adaptive resilience that can be used in any crisis, from the professional to the personal.
£11.99
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Breathe
Since becoming Mayor of London in 2016, he has declared a climate emergency, introduced the world's first Ultra-Low Emission Zone, built hundreds of kilometres of new cycle lanes, led a drive for affordable insulation in council homes, and turned London into the first ever 'National Park City'. But with every year bringing more wildfires, extreme temperatures and flooding - and with around 4000 people still dying prematurely from London's polluted air every year, with older, working class and ethnic minority Londoners most affected - there is so much more to do. Now, Sadiq draws on his experiences to identify the seven ways environmental action gets blown off course. And he reveals how to get it back on track.
£10.99
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Agents of influence
'A gripping story filled with remarkable revelations.' Tom Bower, author of Revenge
£10.99
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Great Britain?
Things have not been going Great for Britain. Wages are flatlining, taxes are rising, and public services are collapsing. Our children can't afford to buy a house and our neighbours are reliant on foodbanks. We are all yearning for a way out of the financial crises, generational wars and political dysfunction that dominate our lives. Most of all we want our - and Britain's - future back. Torsten Bell offers both a clear-eyed diagnosis of the problems facing the country - a uniquely toxic combination of huge inequality and stagnant economic growth - and a hopeful, bold vision for the alternative. As he shows, the Britain of today contains the raw materials to build a better Britain tomorrow - an investment nation of good work and secure homes, and a society in which both burdens and prosperity are shared.
£20.00
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What's in it for me?
Why do we hold the political views that we do? We often dwell on the self-interest of opponents, yet seldom reflect on our own. Considering five contemporary worldviews, Thomas Prosser argues that our views tend to satisfy self-interest. Paradoxically, awareness of self-interest makes us more reflective, allowing us to see humanity in adversaries.
£30.00
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The Afghans
In her international bestseller 'The Bookseller of Kabul', Seierstad studied life in Afghanistan before and after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. Now twenty years later, the Taliban is back in power, and Seierstad returns with 'The Afghans', a book to help us understand Afghanistan's past, present and future, told through the lives of three unforgettable people: - Jamila, Bashir and Ariana - as well their families, friends, foes and co-fighters. Jamila is a women's rights activist; Bashir is a Taliban commander; Ariana is a law student who had one semester left when the Taliban came to power. The stories of these three Afghans encompass love, loss, revolt and war as well as the everyday rhythms of family life. Through them, we experience and come to understand the lead-up to the Taliban retaking power in 2021, how the first year of Taliban rule unfolded, and where this leaves Afghans today, and tomorrow.
£25.00
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How to prevent the next pandemic
Before Bill Gates became an expert on climate science, he was known as one of the few who studied pandemics - how they start, how they spread, how they can be controlled. He warned us years ago in a now-famous TED Talk of their arrival in our future. The future, of course, is now, and now is when we have to plan against a next one. This book is a clear and upbeat plan of what every country, every government leader, and every individual can do in order to help prevent another pandemic, grounded in Bill's firsthand experience with the Gates Foundation's commitment to fighting COVID-19.
£12.99
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Somebody told me
Have you been keeping your eye on your grandma lately? You sure she's not spending too much time on YouTube? Is she talking fondly of dictators? When was the moment the world began to believe anything? Danny Wallace has fallen down the modern rabbit hole of lies, conspiracies and disinformation. Along the way, he encounters families torn apart by accusations and fake news, journalists putting themselves on the frontline of the disinformation war, reformed conspiracy theorists, influencers who see profit in stoking paranoia, and the shadowy nameless, faceless trolls on the other side of our screens. He discovers how disinformation and well-told lies can ruin a year or a whole life, how they can affect our family, our street, our community. How they can spread across a country, a continent, even the world. And Danny asks: can you do anything to stop it - even with the truth on your side?
£22.00
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Why is this lying bastard lying to me?
* UPDATED WITH A NEW BONUS CHAPTER * 'What Rob Burley doesn't know about political interviewing isn't worth knowing' - Andrew Neil
£10.99
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Brexit Volume 3
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER?'Meticulously sourced, merciless and revelatory. It is a closely observed study of power, and how it is gained, used and lost' FINANCIAL TIMESThe unmissable next instalment of Tim Shipman's #1 bestselling Brexit quartet.
£26.00
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How they broke Britain
Our economy has tanked, our freedoms are shrinking, and social divisions are growing. Our politicians seem most interested in their own careers, and much of the media only make things worse. We are living in a country almost unrecognisable from the one that existed a decade ago. But whose fault is it really? Who broke Britain and how did they do it? Bold and incisive as ever, James O'Brien reveals the shady network of influence that has created a broken Britain of strikes, shortages and scandals. He maps the web connecting dark think tanks to Downing Street, the journalists complicit in selling it to the public and the media bosses pushing their own agendas. Over ten chapters, each focusing on a particular person complicit in the downfall, James O'Brien reveals how a select few have conspired - sometimes by incompetence, sometimes by design - to bring Britain to its knees.
£12.99
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Another England
Who are the English? Today, the dominant story told about our national history solely serves the interests of the right. The only people who dare speak of 'Englishness' are cheerleaders for isolationism and imperial nostalgia. But there is another story, equally compelling, about who we are: about the English people's radical inclusivity, their ancient commitment to the natural world, their long struggle to win rights for all. It puts the Chartists and the Levellers in their rightful places alongside Nelson and Churchill. It draws on the medieval writers and Romantic poets who emphasised the sanctity of the environment. And at its heart is England's ancient multicultural heritage, embodied by the Black and Asian writers the curriculum neglects. Here, Caroline Lucas uses this alternative story to offer a progressive vision of what Englishness is and what it might be.
£22.00
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How Westminster works...and why it doesn't
British politics is broken. Anyone sitting down to watch the news will get a firm sense that something has gone terribly wrong. Prime ministers are misleading and inadequate. Cabinet secretaries are uninformed and deluded. Many MPs are of the lowest imaginable quality. The legislation is sloppy, ineffective and broadly worded. Expertise is denigrated. Lies are rewarded. And deep-seated, long-lasting national problems go permanently unresolved. Most of us have a sense that the system doesn't work - but do we know how to articulate exactly why? The reality is that despite all the coverage, hardly anyone understands how Westminster actually works. Our political and financial system is cloaked in secrecy, archaic terminology, ancient custom, impenetrable technical jargon and deliberate obfuscation.
£12.99
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Crack-up capitalism
Look at a map of the world and you'll see a neat patchwork of nation-states. But this is not where power actually resides. From the 1990s onwards, globalization has shattered the map, leading to an explosion of new legal entities: tax havens, free ports, city-states, gated enclaves, and special economic zones. These new spaces are freed from ordinary forms of regulation, taxation and mutual obligation - and with them, ultracapitalists believe that it is possible to escape the bonds of democratic government and oversight altogether. Historian Quinn Slobodian follows the most notorious radical libertarians - from Milton Friedman to Peter Thiel - around the globe as they search for the perfect home for their free market fantasy.
£10.99
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Pegasus
An investigation into the lives and privacy are being threatened by the most sophisticated spyware ever seen, at a sweep and scale that astounds - and horrifies.
£10.99
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The state of us
We are living through a time of tremendous upheaval. Society is growing ever more unequal, and elites increasingly detached, with the Honourable Members ensconced in their Upper and Lower Houses. Jon Snow's own wake up call was the Grenfell Tower fire when, gazing up at the smoke still pouring from the building in the early hours, he felt the weight of the obligation as a journalist to understand what had happened. Tracing key moments in his incredible career, from getting thrown out of university for protesting apartheid to his reporting on major global developments everywhere from America to Iran, Snow argues that the greatest problems at home and abroad so often come down to inequality and an unwillingness to confront it.
£10.99
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