Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story
By Matti Friedman
Pumpkinflowers is a haunting, honest tale of the lives of young Israeli soldiers stationed on an isolated hilltop – named ‘the Pumpkin’ – in Lebanon during the ’90s. ‘Flowers’ was the military term for casualties. This is a beautifully written story that needs to be read. You can take a look at the first four chapters here.
Capitalism: Money, Morals and Markets
By John Plender
The critically acclaimed examination of the world’s predominant economic system returns in paperback. In this incisive, clear-sighted guide, award-winning Financial Times journalist John Plender explores the paradoxes and pitfalls inherent in this extraordinarily dynamic mechanism – and in our attitudes to it.
By Claire Fox
When you hear that now ubiquitous phrase ‘I find that offensive’, you know you’re being told to shut up. Claire Fox asks how we became so thin-skinned and urges us to toughen up, become more robust and make a virtue of the right to be offensive.
By Dylan Jones
Time and time again we hear how London was the best it’s ever been during the swinging ’60s, the punk ’70s or the Britpop ’90s. GQ editor Dylan Jones disagrees, and in London Rules he decrees that right now, our glorious capital is the greatest, most dynamic and diverse city in the world.
Becoming British: UK Citizenship Examined
By Thom Brooks
Immigration is one of the most controversial issues facing Britain today. Politicians kick the subject from one election to the next with energetic but ineffectual promises to ‘crack down’, while newspaper editors plaster it across front pages. In Becoming British, Durham University Professor Thom Brooks expertly examines the immigration problems that modern UK citizenship was meant to solve, what the major challenges are today and how they can be met.
Takeover: Explaining the Extraordinary Rise of the SNP
By Rob Johns and James Mitchell
For a decade now, the SNP has dominated the political narrative in Scotland. Since the dramatic end to the Scottish referendum campaign and its near clean sweep in the 2015 general election, the SNP has become one of the big stories in politics throughout the United Kingdom. Takeover is the incredible story of the SNP’s extraordinary rise.
The Myth of Meritocracy: Why Working-Class Kids Still Get Working-Class Jobs
By James Bloodworth
The best jobs in Britain today are overwhelmingly done by the children of the wealthy. Meanwhile, it is increasingly difficult for bright but poor kids to transcend their circumstances. In this incisive book, James Bloodworth argues that any genuine attempt to improve social mobility must start by reducing the gap between rich and poor.
By Mark Field MP
The Best of Times collects essays, columns and speeches from City of London MP Mark Field. Following on from Field’s acclaimed first book, Between the Crashes, The Best of Times charts the rise of anti-establishment sentiment, the possibility of Brexit and a growing antagonism towards the super-rich in the final years of coalition government. It also looks further afield at global shifts of power and conflict.
The Lockerbie Bombing: The Search for Justice
By Kenny MacAskill
Scotland’s former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill reveals the hard-fought search for justice following the bombing of Pan Am 103 in 1988. Describing the controversial release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, MacAskill explains the international dimensions involved and lays bare the commercial interests that ran in the background throughout the investigation and trial. Finally, he explains how and why it happened – and who was really responsible for one of the worst atrocities to have occurred on British soil.