Summer Reading List 2024: Print Books

The world is encountering multiple crises - climate, droughts, floods, energy, food, and pandemics, to name a few. Capitalism and Crises is about how capitalism can fix them - how it can solve not cause them. The reason why it has caused them is that we have misconceived the nature of our capitalist system. We have failed to understand the key institution at the heart of it - business - and as a result we have allowed it to cause as well as solve problems. This book describes why this has happened and what needs to change to address it: it will take you through how the capitalist system operates, where it fails and why. Drawing on history, philosophy, psychology, and biology as well economics, law, and finance, Mayer describes what has gone wrong, what needs to change, and how to fix it.

Prompted by geostrategic rivalry and the war in Ukraine, COVID-19 and the climate transition, trade policy is increasingly being weaponized. This trend towards protectionist capture and retaliation is self-sabotaging and bad for growth. But there is another way. Ken Heydon offers alternatives to the trade weapon. But, to restrain the damaging subordination of trade policy to other ends, governments must address the discontents of trade and do better at helping losers, adjusting to technological change and making the case for open markets. At stake are three decades of income gains from globalization and the ability to deal effectively with the climate transition and the next pandemic.

A fascinating guide to the rapidly advancing world of artificial intelligence and how this powerful technology will impact our lives, our careers, and our world. Artificial intelligence is driving workforce disruption on a scale not seen since the Industrial Revolution. In schools and universities AI technology has forced a reevaluation of the way students are taught and assessed. Meanwhile, ChatGPT has become a cultural phenomenon, reaching a hundred million users and attracting a reputed $1 trillion investor interest in its parent company, OpenAI. Read this book and better understand how to succeed in the AI-enabled future.

Though we are told we now live in a weightless world of information, we dug more stuff out of the earth in 2017 than in all of human history before 1950. And it's getting exponentially worse. To make one bar of gold, we now have to dig 5,000 tons of earth. For every ton of fossil fuels, we extract six tons of other materials-from sand to stone to wood to metal. Even as we pare back our consumption of fossil fuels we continue to redouble our consumption of everything else. Why? Because these ingredients are the basis for everything. They power our phones and electric cars, build our homes and offices, enable the printing of our books, and supply our packaging. Our modern world would not exist without them, and the hidden battle to control them will shape our future. This is an epic journey across continents, cultures and epochs that captures the astonishing extent to which humanity's prosperity is intertwined with what we extract from the earth and adapt to our needs and desires. It is a story of our past and future, from the ground up.

What if our understanding of capitalism and climate is back to front? What if the problem is not that transitioning to renewables is too expensive, but that saving the planet is not sufficiently profitable? This is Brett Christophers' claim. The global economy is moving too slowly toward sustainability because the return on green investment is too low.

Solidarity is often invoked, but it is rarely analyzed and poorly understood. Here, two leading activists and thinkers survey the past, present, and future of the concept across borders of nation, identity, and class to ask: how can we build solidarity in an era of staggering inequality, polarization, violence, and ecological catastrophe? Offering a lively and lucid history of the idea, Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor insist that solidarity is both a principle and a practice, one that must be cultivated and institutionalized, so that care for the common good becomes the central aim of politics and social life.

Drawing on over 25 years’ experience as a correspondent in Moscow, as well as his own family ties to Russia and Ukraine, journalist Owen Matthews takes us through the poisoned historical roots of the conflict, into the Covid bubble where Putin conceived his invasion plans in a fog of paranoia about Western threats, and finally into the inner circle around Ukrainian president and unexpected war hero Volodimir Zelensky. Using the accounts of current and former insiders from the Kremlin and its propaganda machine, the testimony of captured Russian soldiers and on-the-ground reporting from Russia and Ukraine, Overreach tells the story not only of the war’s causes but how the first six months unfolded. With its panoramic view, Overreach is an authoritative, unmissable record of a conflict that shocked Europe to its core.

Back in 2010, when Nature magazine asked leading scientists to provide a ten-year forecast, Turchin used his models to predict that America was in a spiral of social disintegration that would lead to a breakdown in the political order circa 2020. The years since have proved his prediction more and more accurate, and End Times reveals why. As income inequality surges and prosperity flows disproportionately into the hands of the elites, the common people suffer, and society-wide efforts to become an elite grow ever more frenzied. He calls this process the wealth pump; it's a world of the damned and the saved. And since the number of such positions remains relatively fixed, the overproduction of elites inevitably leads to frustrated elite aspirants, who harness popular resentment to turn against the established order. Turchin's models show that when this state has been reached, societies become locked in a death spiral it's very hard to exit.

For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice. But over the past decades, a healthy appreciation for the culture and heritage of minority groups has transformed into a counterproductive obsession with group identity in all its forms. This, Yascha Mounk argues, is the identity trap. Though those who battle for these ideas are full of good intentions, they will ultimately make it harder to achieve progress toward the genuine equality we desperately need. In The Identity Trap, Mounk provides the most ambitious and comprehensive account to date of the origins, consequences, and limitations of so-called "wokeness." He is the first to show how postmodernism, postcolonialism, and critical race theory forged the "identity synthesis" that conquered many college campuses by 2010. This book provides truth and clarity where they are needed most.

János Martonyi (Hungarian Foreign Minister 1998– 2002, 2010–2014) chose not to write a memoir but instead in the past decade has penned a series of volumes based on his distinguished and pivotal role in Hungarian political life. This volume is a continuation-indeed a reiteration-of messages contained in three previous volumes. These essays plainly reveal the author’s intellectual and political creed, his conservative liberal patriotism, and his Euro-Atlantic commitment based on Hungarian national identity. The essays in this final volume “Nation and Europe” span Martonyi’s career as a lawyer, politician and university professor and offer the Anglophone reader an insight into one of the finest political minds in Europe today

In Building Tomorrow, Paddy Le Flufy brings together six organisational technologies being developed and implemented by pioneering experts. Each of them fundamentally redesigns a key element of our economic system. Together, they can transform it into a new system – one that can help us avoid the catastrophe looming on the horizon. The book aims directly at creating systemic change by providing people with both a holistic vision of a new economic system and the tools with which to build it. The majority of the writing is about positive real-world examples and potential future developments, which show how people throughout society (such as the readers) can themselves help build the new system. Those that do will be creating a better world.

A key catalyst of modern artificial intelligence, Dr. Li has spent more than two decades at the forefront of the field. The Worlds I See is a story of science in the first person, documenting one of the century's defining moments from the inside. It provides a riveting story of a scientist at work and a thrillingly clear explanation of what artificial intelligence is; and how it came to be. Emotionally raw and intellectually uncompromising, this book is a testament not only to the passion required for even the most technical scholarship but also to the curiosity forever at its heart.

As cofounder of DeepMind, the pioneering AI company now owned by Google, Mustafa Suleyman has witnessed firsthand just how rapidly our technology is advancing-and how flawed our approaches to grappling with these changes are. Will humankind make it through the narrow corridor between dystopia and catastrophe? We are about to cross a critical threshold in the history of our species. In this groundbreaking book from the ultimate AI insider, Suleyman firmly establishes "the containment problem"-or the challenge of maintaining human control over dangerous technologies-as the essential dilemma of our age, showing that radical steps must be taken if we are to live alongside technology of once unimaginable power.

World leaders have promised everything to everyone. But they are failing. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are supposed to be delivered by 2030. The goals literally promise everything, like eradicating poverty, hunger and disease; stopping war and climate change, ending corruption, fixing education along with countless other promises. This year, the world is at halftime for its promises, but nowhere near halfway. Together with more than a hundred of the world’s top economists, Bjorn Lomborg has worked for years to identify the world’s best solutions. Based on 12 new, peer-reviewed papers, forthcoming in Cambridge University Press’ Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, this book highlights the world’s best policies.

This book analyses Member States'and EU neighbours'national visions for the enlargement of the European Union (EU), highlighting 41 national histories, policies, and corresponding public perceptions of European integration. In a geopolitical context in which Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine has renewed the impetus for EU enlargement, national views vary considerably on the timing, conditions, and reforms necessary to welcome Eastern neighbours and the Western Balkans countries into the European family. Moreover, EU enlargement policy is not only an investment in peace and stability; it has also become a political tool in response to the exploitation of interdependencies and illiberal pressures. This book presents concrete policy recommendations to national governments and the EU on how to move forward productively.

Book also available as an eBook in Eureka.

In May 2016, the city of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, burned to the ground, forcing 88,000 people to flee their homes. It was the largest evacuation ever of a city in the face of a forest fire, raising the curtain on a new age of increasingly destructive wildfires. This book is a suspenseful account of one of North America's most devastating forest fires-and a stark exploration of our dawning era of climate catastrophes.

An inspiring call to action written by an environmental advocate, journalist, and innovator who has for decades championed renewable energy and sounded the alarm on climate change. This book is a helpful resource that recounts the powerful and personal stories of those at the cutting-edge of the innovation needed to solve the climate crisis. From replacing the fossil-fuel system to energy efficiancy, reduction of methane emissions, and carbon mitigation, the newly invigorated, modernized, clean-energy economy will produce tens of millions of new jobs and save trillions of dollars, avoiding even more in climate damage. Protecting the climate is thus potentially the greatest economic opportunity of our time.

Serhii Plokhy, a leading historian of Ukraine and the Cold War, offers a definitive account of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its origins, course, and the already apparent and possible future consequences. Though the current war began eight years before the all-out assault-on February 27, 2014, when Russian armed forces seized the building of the Crimean parliament-the roots of this conflict can be traced back even earlier, to post-Soviet tensions and imperial collapse in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Providing a broad historical context and an examination of Ukraine and Russia's ideas and cultures, as well as domestic and international politics. In a new international environment defined by the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the disintegration of the post-Cold War international order, and a resurgence of populist nationalism, Ukraine is now more than ever the most volatile fault line between authoritarianism and democratic Europe.

A student of literature, history, and the ghosts of his own family's past, Mikanowski paints a magisterial portrait of a place united by diversity, and eclecticism, and a people with the shared story of being the dominated rather than the dominating. The result is a loving and ebullient celebration of the distinctive and vibrant cultures that stubbornly persisted at the margins of Western Europe, and a powerful corrective that re-centers our understanding of how the modern Western world took shape.

Prediction is at the heart of making decisions amid uncertainty. Our businesses and personal lives are riddled with such decisions; prediction tools increase productivity-operating machines, handling documents, communicating with customers; and uncertainty constrains strategy. Better prediction creates opportunities for new business strategies to compete. Reflecting on the book's reception, the authors reset the context, describing the striking impact the book has had and how its argument and its implications are playing out in the real world. And in new material, they explain how prediction fits into decision-making processes and how foundational technologies such as quantum computing will impact business choices. Penetrating, insightful, and practical, Prediction Machines will help you navigate the changes on the horizon. The impact of AI will be profound, but the economic framework for understanding it is surprisingly simple.

Hard Times explains the historical origins of the political shocks of the past decade, showing how the Covid-19 crisis blew apart fault lines in western democracies, the US-China relationship, NATO, and the European Union that had been accumulating for decades. The book tells three historical stories; the first two stories are geopolitical and economic. Then the final story situates the present instability in the need for democracies to maintain 'losers' consent' and to be repaired when they become unbalanced. It also shows why such repair is so difficult under present geopolitical and economic conditions.

In The New Climate War, Mann argues that all is not lost. He draws the battle lines between the people and the polluters-fossil fuel companies, right-wing plutocrats, and petrostates. And he outlines a plan for forcing our governments and corporations to wake up and make real change, With immensely powerful vested interests aligned in defense of the fossil fuel status quo, the societal tipping point won't happen without the active participation of citizens everywhere aiding in the collective push forward. This book will reach, inform, and enable citizens everywhere to join this battle for our planet.

Every day, all over the world, women are making a positive difference to their lives and the lives of the people in their communities. Most of these women are cut off from the rhetoric and theory of Western feminism; many are active in deeply patriarchal and socially restrictive societies; some may not even describe themselves as feminists. Nevertheless, these women are proving to themselves, and to the world, that a powerful force for change can sometimes start with a single brave action. Caroline Criado-Perez uncovers these stories and investigates what they mean for the feminist movement as a whole. She gathers together stories from beatboxers in Malta and prostitutes in Merseyside to fighter pilots in Afghanistan and doctors in Portugal, and shows how women are taking positive, practical steps to challenge injustice or inequality, and change their world.

Data is fundamental to the modern world. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this bias, in time, money, and often with their lives. Criado Perez investigates this shocking root cause of gender inequality. Examining the home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor's office, and more, Criado Perez unearths a dangerous pattern in data and its consequences on women's lives.

Well-behaved women don't make history: difficult women do. Helen Lewis argues that feminism's success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. It's time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women. In this book, you'll meet the working-class suffragettes who advocated bombings and arson; the princess who discovered why so many women were having bad sex; the 'striker in a sari' who terrified Margaret Thatcher; the wronged Victorian wife who definitely wasn't sleeping with the prime minister. Helen Lewis reveals the unvarnished - and unfinished - history of women's rights. Drawing on archival research and interviews, Difficult Women is a funny, fearless narrative history, which shows why the feminist movement has succeeded - and what it should do next. The battle is difficult, and we must be difficult too.

From a long-time Guardian correspondent and editor, an expansive, authoritative, and balanced account of over a century of violent confrontation, war, and occupation in Palestine and Israel, published on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War.

You might imagine that an effective leader is someone who makes quick, intelligent decisions, gives inspiring speeches, and issues clear orders to their team. Unfortunately, David Marquet argues, that's an outdated model of leadership that just doesn't work anymore. As a leader in today's networked, information-dense business climate, you don't have full visibility into your organization or the ground reality of your operating environment. In order to harness the eyes, ears, and minds of your people, you need to foster a climate of collaborative experimentation that encourages people to speak up when they notice problems and work together to identify and test solutions.

Digital coaching is transforming employee experience and the future of work as we know it. Discover what you need to look for in digital coaching services before signing or renewing a contract with a provider. Digital coaching offers organizations an effective, scalable and personalized approach to employee development that can transform an organization's entire workforce. This technology helps organizations seamlessly schedule, track and manage coaching services as well as evaluate ROI.

The secrets to successfully planning and delivering ambitious, complex projects on any scale-from home renovation to space exploration-by the world's leading expert on megaprojects. Nothing is more inspiring than a big vision that becomes a triumphant, new reality. Think of how the Empire State Building went from a sketch to the jewel of New York's skyline in twenty-one months, or how Apple's iPod went from a project with a single employee to a product launch in eleven months. In this book, Flyvbjerg identifies the errors in judgment and decision-making that lead projects, both big and small, to fail, and the research-based principles that will make you succeed with yours.

Conversational AI is changing the nature of every job at every company (starting yesterday) and this book is relevant for anyone who will be affected by the acceleration of these technologies. You'll learn how to develop a strategy for hyperautomation by identifying the outdated processes and systems holding your organization back. You'll discover ways of internalizing and orchestrating new technologies that are force-multipliers for rapid growth. A must-read for every business leader, Wilson's book debunks common myths about conversational AI while laying bare the inevitable complexity of restructuring your business to unlock the massive opportunities this new era affords.

An incisive, intersectional look at the mother of all gender biases: a resistance to women's authority and power. Every woman has a story of being underestimated, ignored, challenged, or patronized in the workplace. In The Authority Gap, journalist Mary Ann Sieghart examines the wide-ranging implications of this critical gender bias. She explores its intersections with race and class biases and the measures we can take to bridge the gap. With precision and insight, she marshals a wealth of data from a variety of disciplines-including psychology, sociology, politics, and business-and interviews.The Authority Gap offers a "a credible roadmap that is capable of taking women from the margins to the center”.

What do you want me to do? This question is the enduring management issue, a perennial problem that Stephen Bungay shows has an old solution that is counter-intuitive and yet common sense. The Art of Action is a thought-provoking and fresh look at how managers can turn planning into execution, and execution into results.
Drawing on his experience as a consultant, senior manager and a highly respected military historian, Stephen Bungay takes a close look at the nineteenth-century Prussian Army, which built its agility on the initiative of its highly empowered junior officers, to show business leaders how they can build more effective, productive organizations. Based on a theoretical framework which has been tested in practice over 150 years, Bungay shows how the approach known as 'mission command' has been applied in businesses as diverse as pharmaceuticals and F1 racing today.