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[[Category:New Reviews|Politics and Society]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Patrick WestAriel Saramandi|title= Get Over Yourself: Nietzsche for our timesPortrait of an Island on Fire|rating= 14.5|genre= Politics and Society|summary= Get Over Yourself considers Nietzsche's imagined perceptions In this powerful collection of essays, Saramandi seeks to intradermally dissect the sociopolitical fabric of modern society Mauritius, tunneling deep into the wounds left by colonialism and uses our society slavery to explain his philosophyexpose how these legacies still shape modern life. ISaramandi describes the country at one stage as ''rotting'm sorry if that sounds vague but it's the best I can do from the blurb on the back. After reading Get Over Yourself from cover to cover, I am still none a blunt yet apt metaphor for the wiser systemic decay brought about by the purpose malignant forces of racism, patriarchy, environmental degradation and governmental dysfunction. Each essay in this book. It appears to be collection serves as a series kind of personal opinions held together with quotesdiagnostic, which don't always appear relevant, from Nietzsche, Chumbawumba and newspaper articlescharting the various diseases afflicting the island state.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1845409337</amazonuk>1804271616

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Jenny LandrethGregor Hens and Jen Calleja (translator)|title= SwellThe City and the World|rating= 54|genre= Politics and Society|summary= I love JennyIn ''s own description of her book as a waterbiography The City and I love her encouragement that we should each write our own. This is more than just (I say the World''just''!) , Gregor Hens reveals how cities are as much imagined spaces as they are physical ones. With a recollection of deep affection for the urban landscapes that have shaped his life, Hens reflects on places like Cologne, Berlin, and Goch on the author's own encounters Lower Rhine with water; it's also a history blend of women's fight for personal memory and thoughtful observation. His writing, at times abstract, captures not just architectural features but the right emotional and mental geographies tied to swim. That sounds absurd until you start reading about iteach location, for example, then it becomes serious. Not too serious though – because Jenny Landreth is clearly his perspectives as a lover of the absurdchild as opposed to as an adult. Not From Belgium and Germany to Berkeley and Columbus, Hens traces a lover map of book blurbs myselfexperiences, I do always seek to give a shout-out to those who get it dead right: in this case I'm definitely with Alexandra Heminsley's ''giggles-on-the-commute funny''turning cities into reflections of identity and belonging.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1472938941</amazonuk>1804271691

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian LevyPaul B Preciado|title= The ExileDysphoria Mundi|rating= 4.5|genre= Politics and Society|summary= An account ''It is never too late to embrace the revolutionary optimism of the fate childhood''  Through this hybrid text, consisting of Al Qaeda arias, letters, essays and autofiction, Preciado expresses his own hybrid self, and brings forth a new sensorium as an offering to the Bin Laden family since new generation, a new feeling mechanism in which detachment is not considered a sign of political apathy. Rather, it is the events of 9/11proportional, valid response to ''The Exile'' plunges into the murky waters of international terrorismepistemological and political crack we are living through, espionage and politicsthe tension between emancipatory forces and conservative resistances that characterize our present'' which Preciado calls ''dysphoria mundi''. Detailed and meticulous, The whole text is framed against the book tackles backdrop of the subject from all anglesCovid-19 pandemic as that which has catalysed this revolution, when dysphoria began to emerge on a global scale, providing or as ''pangea covidica''. Rather than taking this extreme dysphoria as a panoramic view sign of the subject and acting weakness, or mistaking detachment or withdrawal for political paralysis, Preciado urges his readers to enlighten and inform the reader''use dysphoria as your revolutionary platform''.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1408858762</amazonuk>1804271454

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Emily ClarksonJacqueline Feldman|title= Can I Speak to Someone in Charge?Precarious Lease|rating= 43.5|genre= Politics and SocietyBiography|summary=The title of this novel refers to a French legal term (''Can I Speak to Someone in Charge?bail précaire'') associated with squatters in France, blogger Emily Clarkson's debut bookaffording them temporary suspension from eviction charges and processes, but few scant property rights. Among mentions of other squats dotted around Paris like Le Carrosse and La Miroiterie, is a fierceFeldman takes particular interest in one squat of massive proportions which adopted an almost mythical status for its inhabitants, witty admirers and laugh-out-loud funny ode to feminismdetractors alike: Le Bloc. In Something like a series haven for artists and marginal members of open letterssociety (as one character, Le Général, repeats throughout, she addresses ''I live on the issues faced by every modern womanmargins of the margins of the margins''), discussing everything from dealing with body hair to being made Le Bloc was subject to feel uncomfortable in the gym, as well as more personal issues, like her experiences continual threat of being eviction and the pressures from above which oppressed its inhabitants'catfished' and sent abuse onlinelives. This is We follow Le Bloc from its opening in 2012 until its eventual dissolution, framed as a vital read for any girl born tragedy in the 1990s, tackling some very serious social injustices beneath its fun exteriorthis book.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1471156907</amazonuk>1804271403

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Lauren ElkinClaire Dederer|title=FlaneuseMonsters: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and LondonWhat Do We Do with Great Art by Bad People?|rating=43|genre=History Politics and Society|summary=Lauren Elkin is down on suburbs: theyDederer sets out to unveil what she calls a 're places where you can't or shouldnbiography of the audience't be seen walking; places where' in a deconstructed, in fictionthoroughly nitpicked, women who transgress boundaries are punished (thinking exploration of the old aphorism of everything separating the art from the artist in the context of contemporary ''Madame Bovarycancel culture'' to . Dederer''Revolutionary Road'')s work is original and expressive. When she imagines to herself what The reader gets the female version of impression that well-known historical figurethe thoughts simply sprang and leapt from her brilliant mind and onto the page. In particular, the carefree prologue packs a punch: she simultaneously condemns and exalts the director Roman Polanski, an artist she personally admires for his art, and yet despises for his actions. This model of ''flâneurmonstrous men''as she calls them, might beis consistent for the first few chapters, she thinks about women who freely wandered interrogating the world's great cities without having the more insalubrious connotation likes of the word 'streetwalker' applied to themWoody Allen, Michael Jackson and Pablo Picasso. Her critical voice is acutely present throughout, never slipping into anonymity and maintaining her own subjectivity, as she holds it so dearly, and a personal, rather than collective voice.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0099593378</amazonuk>1399715070

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Saqib NoorVirginie Despentes|title=Surgery on the Shoulders of Giants: Letters from a doctor abroadKing Kong Theory

|genre=Autobiography|summary=The letters begin much in the fashion of any young man away from home, perhaps in a quite exciting country, writing back to family and friends to tell them of his experiences, the sights he's seen and the people he's met. It's just a little different in King Kong Theory''Surgery on the Shoulders of Giants'' though: Saqib Noor is a junior doctorhard-hitting memoir and feminist manifesto, training to which can be an orthopaedic surgeon and over a period of ten years he visited six countries, not seen as a tourist but call to give medical assistancearms for women in a phallocentric society broken at its core. They're countries Originally written in French, the book is a collection of essays in which Noor describes Virginie Despentes explores her experiences as ''fourth world'' - third world with added disaster - a woman through the complex prism of her varied life: from rape to sex work and pornography. Though these discussions are intertwined, their placement within the book can feel somewhat disjointed, a reflection of their need is desperateoriginal form as independent essays.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1521173192</amazonuk>191309734X

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Rebecca Asher1009473085|title= Man UpThe Conservative Effect 2010 - 2024|author=Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton (Editors)|rating= 5|genre= Politics and Society|summary= When Sometimes it's simpler to explain a couple of years ago my university introduced compulsory consent workshops along with book by describing what it ''isn't'' and that applies to ''The Conservative Effect: 2010-2024 - 14 Wasted Years?''. If you're looking for an option of easy read which will deliver the inside story about what ''really'' happened on certain occasions, then this isn't the book for you. If that'good lads what you' sessions re looking for boys, all debate broke looseI don't think Anthony Seldon's book, {{amazonurl|isbn=B0BH7SKG2S|title=Johnson at 10}}, can be bettered for those tumultuous years. Shouldn It't consent s a compelling read and should be self-evident compulsory for everyone? Would the workshops reinforce the stereotype of anyone who thinks Johnson should return to politics. ''The Conservative Effect''laddishis an entirely different beast. It' boys? Would it all be about pointing fingers s the seventh book in a series which looks at boys the impact a government has made and victimizing girls? What about nonco-editor Sir Anthony Seldon regards this as the most important. This book follows the well-binary people? In shortestablished format: a series of experts from various fields review the state of the nation when the coalition took over in 2010, how could these workshops be anything else than a mission doomed to failure?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784701807</amazonuk>the changes that occurred and the situation in 2024.

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= John GrindrodAlastair Humphreys|title= OutskirtsLocal|rating= 45|genre =Animals and WildlifeTravel |summary=''Outskirts'' is an interesting take on a phenomenon of Alastair Humphreys has walked and cycled all over the modern age: the introduction of the green belt of countryside surrounding inner city housing estatesworld. And then written about it. For this book he walked and cycled very close to home and then wrote about it. John Grindrod grew up on the edge of one such estate As he says in his introduction, the 1960book is an attempt 's 'to share what I have learnt about some big issues from a year exploring a small map. Nature loss, pollution, land use and '70'saccess, as he puts itagriculture, ''I grew up on the last road in London.food system, rewilding…'' Grindrod explores One of the introduction joys of the green belt, and book for me was that the various fights and developments it has gone through over the subsequent decadesbiggest thing he learned about all of these things was that there are no easy answers, as environmental and political arguments have affected planning decisions. Within this topicno single 'right or wrong', he has somehow managed that every upside is likely to wind around his personal memories of childhood, producing have a memoir with a lot of heartdownside for somebody and that there are some hard choices ahead.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1473625025</amazonuk>1785633678

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Carolina de RobertisEdel Rodriguez|title= Radical HopeWorm: A Cuban American Odyssey|rating= 4|genre= Politics and SocietyGraphic Novels|summary= On 8th November 2016We're in childhood, and we're in Cuba. The revolution has happened, Donald Trump was elected and Castro, first thought of as the 46th President a saviour of the United Statescountry, has proven himself a Communist, and not done nearly enough to create a level playing field for all. Since then many Americans have been overcome with fear Well, worrying about what will become those hours-long speeches of American society during Trumphis were kind of taking his time away. Our narrator's administration. Carolina de Robertis was no exception family weren't in the happiest of places here, an uncle refusing to be the good soldier the country demanded (especially as he would probably be shipped off to this fear some minor pro-Communism skirmish, such as Angola) and in response to the newly elected President father being watched and watched, and not liked for his policies she put out a call for actionsuccessful photography business, success being frowned upon. Radical Hope is The mother gets the outcome couple jobs with the party to ease some of the heat, but in this call. De Robertis reached out to fellow writers and activists asking for letters, predominantly letters of lovesultry island country, addressed to it remains the citizens kind of today and those heat forcing you out of past and future generations in order to help spread hope during times of uncertainty.the kitchen…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0349010102</amazonuk>1474616720

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Matthew d'AnconaSarah Wilson|title=Post-TruthThis One Wild and Precious Life: The New War on Truth and How the path back to Fight Backconnection in a fractured world

|genre=Politics and SocietyLifestyle|summary=My favourite Mary Oliver line is the one in which she asks ''Our own post-truth era What is what happens when society relaxes its defence of values it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?'' I get to love that underpin cohesion, namely veracity, honesty and accountabilityline so much because my answer is ''This! Precisely this.'' I'm old enough or perhaps naive lucky enough to believe that when making a decision about political voting, you should be able living my one wild and precious life the way I want to rely absolutely on what the candidate tells you. Sarah Wilson is equally lucky. In her book that takes Oliver's words as her title (though Ican't see that she acknowledges the source) she pushes us to think about whether we really ''are've been suspicious for a decade or more, but it's become difficult to ignore living the change in political attitudes since Brexit and life we want – the election of Donald Trumpbest life that we could be living. With regard to the latter, when Trump was challenged on a statement heHer answer is an unequivocal ''d made which was subsequently found to be incorrectno, his response was ''Who cares if I got it wrong?we are not'' . He was able to tap to the fading concept of Don'the American Dreamt care what you' - those Americans who were used to waiting patiently in line and who had found themselves overtaken by ''womenre doing, she thinks you (we, immigrants and public sector workers'I) could be doing more…And she's effing furious about the fact that we are not.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1785036874</amazonuk>1785633848

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Stephen Moss1785633457|title= Wild KingdomCharging Around: Bringing Back Britain's WildlifeExploring the Edges of England by Electric Car|author=Clive Wilkinson|rating= 45|genre= Animals and WildlifeTravel|summary= Wildlife Clive Wilkinson has been declining in Britain over a history of travelling by unconventional means with a preference for slow travel. As he neared his eightieth birthday the idea of exploring the last few decades; it is an unfortunate by-product edges of human population growth, which England in the modern world has increased significantlyan electric car was not totally outrageous. Through this book Moss suggests In fact, it should be a few ways in which we can start to bring back some of Britainpleasant holiday for Clive and his wife, Joan, shouldn's wildlife without compromising the human way of life: we can co-exist with nature. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099581639</amazonuk>t it?

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Nick Clegg1529153050|title=Politics: Between the ExtremesBritain's Best Political Cartoons 2022|author=Tim Benson|rating=4.5|genre=Politics and SocietyHumour|summary=The Seeking some light relief from the current political landscape turmoil which is changing rapidly at the moment. A little coming to seem more than two years ago we were facing the end of the UK's first coalition government since World War II and fully expecting that we would see another. Instead we saw a Conservative government elected with a workable majority. Brexit saw the end of one Prime Minister and another elected by a few members of parliament. As more like an adrenaline sport, I write wewas nudged towards 're facing another general election, with a Conservative landslide predicted. In two years we've seen the Liberal Democrats collapse from being part of the ruling coalition to a party whose MPs could hold a meeting in a decent-sized car.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784704164</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Jess Phillips|title= Everywoman: One WomanBritain's Truth About Speaking the Truth|rating=3.5|genre= Politics and Society|summary=''Everywoman'' announces itself proudly, with a chapter named ''The Truth about Speaking upBest Political Cartoons of 2022''. Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, tells us many times Sharp eyes will have noted that she is we''gobby'' and that she has a loud voice. Her voice does come re not yet through, clear and urgentthe year: the cartoons run from 4 September 2021 to 31 August 2022. Using her journey Who can imagine what there will be to Westminster and her experiences come in Parliament, Phillips teaches the reader the truths she's learned on her journey.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786330776</amazonuk>2023 edition?

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Tormod V BurkeyB0B7289HKQ|title=Ethics for a Full World orConversations Across America: A Father and Son, Alzheimer's, Can Animal-Lovers Save and 300 Conversations Along the TransAmerica Bike Trail that Capture the World?Soul of America|author=Kari Loya

|genre= Animals and WildlifeTravel|summary= Burkey argues Kari (that man's current practices are outside rhymes with ‘sorry’, by the realms of nature. He is no longer part of the ecosystem, but instead exists above it through way) wanted to spend some time with his dominating ways. He is himself distanced even further by advancement in technologies, industry, money father and all the pollution that comes with themperiod between two jobs seemed like a good time to do it. The natural worlddecision was made to ride the Trans America Bike Trail from Yorktown, Burkey arguesVirginia to Astoria, no longer exists for man because he has altered Oregon - all 4250 miles of it by such things- in 2015. Indeed, global warming has caused climate change, which, if They had 73 days to do it continues, will make - slightly less than the world unrecognisable. For the world to become fuller, for recommended time - but there were factors which pointed this up as more of a challenge that it to would be a world that seeks to provide for the needs of every living thing, then most people who considered taking it needs to changeon. Merv Loya was 75 years old and he was suffering from early-stage Alzheimer's. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905570856</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Benjamin Wittes and Gabriella Blum1739593901|title= 22 Ideas About The Future of Violence - Robots |author=Benjamin Greenaway and Germs, Hackers and Drones: Confronting the New Age of ThreatStephen Oram (Editors)|rating= 45|genre=Politics and SocietyScience Fiction|summary=Looking back over this month, April 2017, the news has been full of terrorist attacks perpetrated by lone individuals. A suicide bombing on the St Petersburg Metro killed 15 people and injured 64 ''Our future will be morecomplex than we expected. In Stockholm Instead of flying cars, Sweden, a hijacked truck steered into a pedestrian shopping area we got night-vision killer drones and department storeautomated elderly care with geolocation surveillance bracelets to track grandma. Most recently, '' I've got a shooting in Paris just two days ago, claimed the life couple of confessions to make. I'm not keen on short stories as I find it easy to read a police officer few stories and injured several othersthen forget to return to the book. Whilst There's got to be a very compelling hook to keep me engaged. Then there's science fiction: far too often it is true that governments have access to impressive, cutting's the technology which takes centre stage along with the world-edge building. It's human beings who fascinate me: the technology to combat terrorism, it is also a fact that these resources and the world scape are becoming increasingly available to individualspurely incidental. At So, what costdid I think of a book of twenty-two science fiction short stories?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445655934</amazonuk> Well, I loved it.

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Lynn KnightJane Goodall and Douglas Abrams |title= The Button BoxBook of Hope |rating= 45|genre= HistoryPolitics and Society |summary= Buttons are The done thing is to read a book all the underdogs way through before you sit down to review it. I’m making an exception here, because I don’t want to lose any of the clothing world: dismissed as functional elements experience of clothing, falling into the same dustbin category with zips and shoe lacesreading this amazing book, they tend I want to be seen capture it as necessary for keeping clothes on, rather than contributors to styleit hits me. But Lynn Knight is set to prove that the opposite And it is truehitting me. We think nothing of lacing discussions about clothing and feminism with headscarves, bikinis, and underweight models – and buttons deserve a place on the pedestal of gender discussion, tooThis beautiful book has me in tears.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0099593092</amazonuk>024147857X

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Paul Flynn1788360737|title= Good As YouArtivism: From Prejudice to Pride - 30 Years The Battle for Museums in the Era of Gay BritainPostmodernism|author=Alexander Adams|rating= 52|genre= History Politics and Society|summary=The last 30 years have seen Can art ever be apolitical? All art is political because art is not made in a tidal wave of change sweep the country with regards to how gay vacuum. It is made by people are perceived and accepted. In 1984, Antonio Gramsci stated that ‘’Every man… contributes to modifying the pulsing electronic beats of ''Smalltown Boy'' became an anthem to unite Gay Mensocial environment in which he develops’’. Therefore, but just a month later, a virus called HIV would all art must be identifiedpolitical, spreading a climate of panic and fear across the nation, and marginalising a community who were already ostracisedeven implicitly. 30 years later though, the long road to gay equality would reach a climax with Alexander Adams in his new book ‘Artivism: The Battle for Museum in the legalistion Era of gay marriage. Journalist Paul Flynn charts this remarkable journey via the cultural milestones Postmodernism’ is adamant that affected this change - with interviews with such protagonists as Kylie, Russell T Davies, Will Young, Holly Johnson and Lord Chris Smithart is freer when it is art for art’s sake. This is the story The recent trend of Britain's brothers, sons, cousins, fathers and husbands. Of public outrage and personal loss, the so-called artivism has caused artists to become more overtly political (not always legalread: left wing) highs . Their seemingly grass roots movements have been astroturfed by large “left-wing” donors and desperate lows, media elites hoping to create a more globalist and the final collective victory as Gay Men were finally recognised to be as Good As Youprogressive regime. Or at least that’s what Alexander Adams believes. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785032925</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Mark Aylwin Thomas1398508632|title= Blades of Grass|rating= 4.5|genre= Biography|summary= Any book that has me in tears at the end has been worth my time. Any book that has me hoping it will end differently to the way I know it must is worth the reading. Any book that convinces me that maybe there is still hope in the world – that for all the mistakes made thus far, still being made right now, there is a common humanity which ultimately, eventually, must do some good – that is worth the writing and the reading and the time. Blades of Grass is one such book. It's a forgotten story, an unknown story to most people. It is one that should be told – and reflected upon.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524676969</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewThe Wilderness Cure|author=John Preston|title=A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart of the EstablishmentMo Wilde

|genre=True CrimeLifestyle|summary=Jeremy Thorpe It had been on the cards for a while but it was the sort week-long consumer binge which pushed Mo Wilde into beginning her year of person who was generally liked by otherseating only wild food. He The end of November, particularly in Central Scotland was flamboyant and gregarious but could give perhaps not the best time to start, in a world where the impression that meeting someone normal sores had made his daybeen exacerbated by climate change, Brexit and a pandemic. He never seemed to forget Wilde had a name and he few advantages: the area around her was witty, charismatic and very charminga known habitat with a variety of terrains. He appeared She had electricity which allowed her to be run a decent man, with views with which I would have agreed on racefridge, capital punishment freezer and membership of the Common Market, as the European Union was then knowndehydrator. For this was the nineteen sixties and Thorpe She had entered Parliament at the age of thirty a car - and by 1967 he would be party leaderfuel. On the surface he Most importantly, she had shelter: this was not a man who had everything going for himplan to ''live'' wild just to live off its produce.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241973740</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Sarah Bakewell1529149800|title= At The Existentialist CaféThings You Can Do: Freedom, Being How to Fight Climate Change and Reduce Waste|author=Eduardo Garcia and Apricot CocktailsSara Boccaccini Meadows

|genre= Politics Home and SocietyFamily|summary= You know We begin with a telling story. All the birds and animals fled when the forest fire took hold and most of them stood and watched, unable to think of anything they could do. The tiny hummingbird flew to the river and began taking tiny amounts of water and flying back to drop them into the fire. The animals laughed: what good was that old saying about judging books by their cover? doing. Ignore it! ''I have found 'm doing the best I can'', said the hummingbird. And that by judging a book by its cover and getting it completely wrong , really, is a great the only way to find yourself committed to reading a book that you'd never have picked in a million years and yetwe will solve the problem of climate change – by each of us doing what we can, somehow, being amazingly glad you didhowever small that might be.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099554887</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Tony Benn and Ruth Winstone (editor)1638485216|title=The Benn DiariesBlack, White, and Gray All Over: The Definitive CollectionA Black Man's Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement|author=Frederick Reynolds

|genre=BiographyAutobiography|summary=Tony Benn must be one ''Corruption is not department, gender or race specific. It has everything to do with character. Period.'' ''One more body just wouldn't matter''. The murder of George Floyd, a forty-six-year-old black man, on 25 May 2020 by Derek Chauvin, a forty-four-year-old police officer, in the most famous diarists US city of Minneapolis sent shock waves around the modern ageworld. He kept We rarely see pictures of a diary from his schooldays in murder taking place but Floyd's death was an exception. The image of Chauvin kneeling on George's neck is not one which I'll ever forget and the nineteen forties until he made his last entry in 2009, five years before his deathprotests which followed cannot have been unexpected. Benn There was also a particularly charismatic politicianbacklash against the police - and not just in Minneapolis: since my teens Iwhatever their colour or creed they were 've found myself listening to him believing that I disagreed with what he was saying and then realising that perhaps we weren't so far apart after all'' tarred by the Chauvin brush. Whatever he spoke about always gave food for thought. Of course the ideal way to enjoy the diaries would be to read the individual volumes, beginning with }}{{amazonurlFrontpage|isbnauthor=0099497719Matthieu Aikins|title=Years Of Hope: DiariesThe Naked Don't Fear the Water|rating=4.5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=It's easy to forget at times that The Naked Don't Fear the Water isn't actually fiction,Letters and Papers 1940because it reads very much like a well-1962}}paced thriller at times. This is not by any means a criticism, but thatrather a testament to how well Matthieu Aikins – a Canadian citizen who decided to accompany his friend as a refugee from Afghanistan through Europe – recounts a vast and at times painful journey. There are tense moments and gripping accounts of border crossings which had me on edge the whole way through. But it's written with a lengthy undertaking haunting and ''The Benn Diaries: The Definitive Collection'' edited by Ruth Winstone gives you almost lyrical quality that allows the opportunity reader to sample perfectly envisage the best of the diaries in a mere seven hundred or so pagesenvironments and people described. Be warned though: there has been a previous |isbn= B09N9157T6}}{{amazonurlFrontpage|isbn=00996341121785633074|title=composite volume}}Staggering Hubris|author=Josh Berry|rating=4.5|genre=Humour|summary=Members of Parliament like us to believe that the country is run by politicians, also called headed by the Prime minister - the ''primus inter pares'The Benn Diaries'(that' s for those of you who are Eton and published Oxbridge educated) but the reality is that the ''prime'' movers are the special advisers - the SPADS - who are the driving force behind the government. We are in 1996the privileged position of having access to the memoirs of Rafe Hubris, the man who was behind the skilful control of the Covid crisis which was completely contained by the end of 2020. The current volume goes You might not know the name now but he will certainly be the man to 2009watch.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786330768</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Henning Mankell1846276772|title= QuicksandThe End of Bias: How We Change Our Minds|author=Jessica Nordell|rating= 4.5|genre= AutobiographyPolitics and Society|summary= How do you judge Anyone who is not an able, white man understands bias in that they may no longer even recognise the extent to which they suffer from it: it's simply a book? part of everyday life. Not by its cover, we're toldWhite men will always come first. The able will come before the disabled. In my caseJobs, promotions, often by higher salaries are the number preserve of turned down corners or post-it-note-marked pages by the time I've finished reading itwhite man. Sometimes, by whether I worry about leaving its characters to fend for themselves while I take Even when those who wouldn't pass the medical become a break…or by how much part of an organisation it stays with me afterwards or for how long. In this case's rare that their views are heard, it doesn't matterthat their concerns are acknowledged. However, I judge ''Quicksand'It' s personally appalling and degrading for the judgement comes up individuals on the same. This collection receiving end of vignettes from an ageing, possibly dying, writer looking back on his own life is as powerful as the bias but it is simple, as easy to read as it is impossible to forget's not just the individuals who are negatively impacted.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784701564</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Anne Glyn-Jones1529148251|title= Morse Code Wrens of Station XMisfits: A Personal Manifesto|author=Michaela Coel|rating= 4.5|genre= HistoryPolitics and Society|summary= Bletchley Park is probably now the least secret of all the secret ops that went ''How am I able to be so transparent on during World War II. paper about rape, malpractice and poverty, yet still compartmentalise? It's as though I for one am pleased about that: technology has moved on so far that there canwere telling the truth whilst simultaneously running away from it.'' Before you start reading ''Misfits''t you need to be anything that happened back then on the communications front that is worth continuing in a certain frame of mind. You're not going to shroud in mysteryread a book of essays or a self-help book. With most of You're going to read writing which was inspired by Michaela Coel's 2018 MacTaggart Lecture to professionals within the participants either departed or television industry at least in the departure lounge, the more recollections we can still gather the betterEdinburgh TV Festival. What remained secret far longer however, is You might be ''reading'' the work of book but you need to ''listen'' to the telegraphers that served Station X: those posted to words as though you're in the Y-stationslecture theatre. There are few of them left to tell their tales, so I applaud those who finally saw fit ( The disjointedness will fade away and you'll be carried on a) to release them from their life-long bonds cloud of secrecy and (b) encourage them to write it down, tell us what it was really likeexquisite writing.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845409086</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Donald Naismith0008350388|title=A Bradford ApprenticeshipWe Need to Talk About Money|author=Otegha Uwagba|rating=45

|summary=with all schools removed from their control and established ''To be a dark-skinned Black woman is to be seen as freestanding less desirable, less hireable, less intelligent and selfultimately less valuable than my light-governing academiesskinned counterparts. ..'' In effect this would (and possibly will) mean that what was once a national service, locally administered will become a local service, nationally administered''We Need to Talk About Money'' by Otegha Uwagba ''0. Donald Naismith is perhaps best known as the former Chief Education Officer 7% of Richmond-upon-Thames, Croydon and then Wandsworth but his education and formative working years took place English Literature GCSE students in his adopted home city England study a book by a writer of Bradfordcolour while only 7% study a book by a woman. '' In ''A Bradford ApprenticeshipThe Bookseller'' he gives us an affectionate tribute 29 June 2021 Otegha Uwagba came to the city which made him what he is UK from Kenya when she was five years old. Her sisters were seven and nine. It was her mother who came first, with her father joining them later. The family was hard-working, principled and his thoughts on determined that their children would have the best education systempossible. Bradford There was once one always a painful awareness of money although this did not translate into a shortage of anything: it was simply carefully harvested. When Otegha was ten the country's leading family acquired a car. For Otegha, education authorities meant a scholarship to a private school in London and he values the opportunities it gave him to fine tune his thinkingthen a place at New College, Oxford.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524636118</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author= Siri HustvedtRichard Brook|title= Understanding Human Nature: A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex and the MindUser's Guide to Life|rating= 4.5|genre= Politics and Society Lifestyle|summary= I must confess am a firm believer that sometimes we choose books, and sometimes books choose us. In my case, this is one of the latter. Not so very long ago, if I had come across this book I'd have skimmed it, found some of it interesting, but it would not have 'A Woman Lookinghit home'' spoke in the way that it does now. I believe it came to me on not just because I was likely to give it a profoundfavourable review [ ''full disclosure The Bookbag's u.s.p. is that people chose their own books rather than getting them randomly, intimate level. This so there is in part due a predisposition towards expecting to like the apparent similarities between me and Siri Hustvedt - we are both feminists who love art and also love science in a world which emphasises book, even if it doesn't always turn out that these two passions are mutually exclusive. What Hustvedt suggests in way''A Woman Looking'' is that ] – but also because it is the similarities between these two areas we should emphasise and that a cohesivebook I needed to read, inclusive approach towards art and science could help fill the gaps in both disciplinesright now. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1473638895</amazonuk>1800461682

{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1787332098|title=How to Love Animals in a Human-Shaped World|author=T J ColesHenry Mance|rating=5|genre=Politics and Society|titlesummary=The Great Brexit Swindle''When we do think about animals, we break them down into species and groups: Why cows, dogs, foxes, elephants and so on. And we assign them places in society: cows go on plates, dogs on sofas, foxes in rubbish bins, elephants in zoos, and millions of wild animals stay out there, ''somewhere,'' hopefully on the Meganext David Attenborough series.'' I was going to argue. I mean, cows are for cheese (I couldn't consider eating red meat...) and I much prefer my elephants in the wild but then I realised that I was quibbling for the sake of it. Essentially that quote sums up my attitude to animals -Rich and Free Market Fanatics Conspired I consider myself an animal lover. If I had to choose between the company of humans and the company of animals, I would probably choose the animals. I insisted that I read this book: no one was trying to stop me but I was initially reluctant. I eat cheese, eggs, chicken and fish and I needed to Force Britain from either do so without guilt or change my choices. I suspected that making the European Uniondecision would not be comfortable.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1523092734|title=A Women's Guide to Claiming Space|author=Eliza Van Cort|rating=3.5|genre=Business Politics and FinanceSociety|summary=''Have you been misShe brings a hug-kick-sold Brexit by posh men thunderclap that every woman needs in sharp suits promising you free healthcare? If soher life. Again and again and again.'' (Alma Derricks, former CMO, you might be entitled Cirque du Soleil RSD) ''To claim space is to compensation.live the life of choosing unapologetically and bravely. It is to live the life you've always wanted.''

There wasn't Sometimes the reviewing gods are generous: at a time when violence against women is much could make me laugh on in the morning after the EU referendum but this spoof advert on Twitter managed it. Onlynews, it seems that it wasn't completely a joke - well apart from the bit about compensation'A Women's Guide to Claiming Space'' by Eliza Van Cort dropped onto my desk. In Now - to be clear - this book is not a 'how to disable your attacker with two simple jabs'The Great Brexit Scandalmanual: it'' T J Coles looks s something far more effective, but discussion at the substantial core of free marketeers in the Conservative party who were determined moment seems to rid the UK of the Brussels red tape which was putting a brake on their activities. You might also know these views as be about how women can be ''neoliberalismprotected'', an ideology which looks to deregulate markets and maximise profits. On the surface I've always thought that doesnwomen need to rise above this, to be people who don't sound badneed protection, people who claim their own space. If all women did this, until you those few men who are violent to women would realise that the benefit will go to the people who we are already in the group which Coles refers not just an easy target to as the ''mega-rich'' and the losers will be working peopleused to prove that they are big men.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905570813</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Erin MoorePolly Barton|title= That's Not EnglishFifty Sounds|rating= 4.5

|summary=It's not clear who first coined Where do I start? I could start with where Barton herself starts, with the expression question ''divided by a common languageWhy Japan?'' about Brits Japan has been on my radar for a while and Americansif the world hadn't gone into melt-down I would have visited by now. I may get there later this year, but as this highly entertaining book demonstratesI am not hopeful. And like Barton, it isnI don't our language that divides us. On the contrary the language simply reflects know the divisions that exist. We tend answer to watch a lot of TV at home, but rarely find anything that totally engrosses us. As a result we tend to talk over a lot of TV. We play games with some of what we watch. One of those games is spotting anachronisms. Another is "would she ever have got the job" – particularly fun with crime programmes that think itquestion 's ok for lab techs to have long free-flowing locks when doing evidence analysis or have Detective Sergeants who frankly wouldn't have passed their CV submission. A long-running one involves spotting the spread of British English in American TV shows. Erin Moore explains why. Not directly, indeed IJapan?''m not sure she even makes the connection – but She explains her feelings in respect of the fact that there are a lot more Brits question in the higher echelons of US TV-making might just explain why CSIfirst essay, NCISwhich is on the sound ''giro' '' – which she describes as being, Law and Order and a whole host of among other shows will slip in words like walletthings, handbag, boot (the sound of a car), pavement…''every party where you have to introduce yourself''.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1784701912</amazonuk>1913097501

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Chris McIvorStephen Fabes|title=The World is ElsewhereSigns of Life

|genre=AutobiographyTravel|summary=As a Country Director, Chris McIvor has worked for a number I was brought up on maps and first-person narratives of tales of years at Save the Childrenfar away places. 'The World is Elsewhere' covers his time there I was birth-righted wanderlust andcuriosity. Unfortunately, his journeys across a number of countriesI didn't inherit what Dr. It is a beautiful mix of autobiography Stephen Fabes clearly had which was the guts to simply go out and traveldo it. It I also captures his philosophical thoughts on international aid. He reflects on both didn't inherit the good kind of steady nerve, ability to talk to strangers and the bad basic practicality that would have meant that I would have survived if I had been gifted with a very easy, conversational writing style that makes the book truly captivatingrequisite 'bottle'. In order words I read from cover to cover in 'm not the sort of person who will get on a bike outside a single sitting, unusual London hospital and not come home for a reviewersix years. Such was the draw as he laid himself bare Fabes did precisely that. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1910124346</amazonuk>1788161211