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{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingauthor="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->Edward W Said|title=Representations of the Intellectual |rating=4.5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=Edward Said's ''Representations of the Intellectual'' is less a strict theory of what intellectuals are and more a passionate argument for what they should be. Said clearly rejects the comfortable image of the intellectual as a detached expert speaking only to other specialists. Instead, he insists on the intellectual as a public figure, often awkward, abrasive, and unpopular, who speaks truth to power even when it is inconvenient or risky.|isbn=1804272248}}{{Frontpage|author=Ariel Saramandi|title=Portrait of an Island on Fire|rating=4.5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=In this powerful collection of essays, Saramandi seeks to intradermally dissect the sociopolitical fabric of Mauritius, tunneling deep into the wounds left by colonialism and slavery to expose how these legacies still shape modern life. Saramandi describes the country at one stage as ''rotting'', a blunt yet apt metaphor for the systemic decay brought about by the malignant forces of racism, patriarchy, environmental degradation and governmental dysfunction. Each essay in this collection serves as a kind of diagnostic, charting the various diseases afflicting the island state.|isbn=1804271616}}{{Frontpage|author=Gregor Hens and Jen Calleja (translator)|title=The City and the World|rating=4|genre=Politics and Society|summary=In ''The City and the World'', Gregor Hens reveals how cities are as much imagined spaces as they are physical ones. With a deep affection for the urban landscapes that have shaped his life, Hens reflects on places like Cologne, Berlin, and Goch on the Lower Rhine with a blend of personal memory and thoughtful observation. His writing, at times abstract, captures not just architectural features but the emotional and mental geographies tied to each location, for example, his perspectives as a child as opposed to as an adult. From Belgium and Germany to Berkeley and Columbus, Hens traces a map of experiences, turning cities into reflections of identity and belonging.|isbn=1804271691}}{{Frontpage|author=Paul B Preciado|title=Dysphoria Mundi|rating=4.5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=''It is never too late to embrace the revolutionary optimism of childhood''

<!Through this hybrid text, consisting of arias, letters, essays and autofiction, Preciado expresses his own hybrid self, and brings forth a new sensorium as an offering to the new generation, a new feeling mechanism in which detachment is not considered a sign of political apathy. Rather, it is the proportional, valid response to ''the epistemological and political crack we are living through, and the tension between emancipatory forces and conservative resistances that characterize our present'' which Preciado calls ''dysphoria mundi''. The whole text is framed against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic as that which has catalysed this revolution, when dysphoria began to emerge on a global scale, or as ''pangea covidica''. Rather than taking this extreme dysphoria as a sign of weakness, or mistaking detachment or withdrawal for political paralysis, Preciado urges his readers to ''use dysphoria as your revolutionary platform''. |isbn=1804271454}}{{Frontpage|author=Jacqueline Feldman|title=Precarious Lease|rating=3.5|genre=Biography|summary=The title of this novel refers to a French legal term (''bail précaire'') associated with squatters in France, affording 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, Feldman takes particular interest in one squat of massive proportions which adopted an almost mythical status for its inhabitants, admirers and detractors alike: Le Bloc. Something like a haven for artists and marginal members of society (as one character, Le Général, repeats throughout, ''I live on the margins of the margins of the margins''), Le Bloc was subject to the continual threat of eviction and the pressures from above which oppressed its inhabitants' lives. We follow Le Bloc from its opening in 2012 until its eventual dissolution, framed as a tragedy in this book. |isbn=1804271403}}{{Frontpage|author=Claire Dederer|title=Monsters: What Do We Do with Great Art by Bad People?|rating=3|genre=Politics and Society|summary=Dederer sets out to unveil what she calls a ''biography of the audience'' in a deconstructed, thoroughly nitpicked, exploration of the old aphorism of separating the art from the artist in the context of contemporary ''cancel culture''. Dederer's work is original and expressive. The reader gets the impression that the thoughts simply sprang and leapt from her brilliant mind and onto the page. In particular, the 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 ''monstrous men'' as she calls them, is consistent for the first few chapters, interrogating the likes of Woody 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.|isbn=1399715070}}{{Frontpage|author=Virginie Despentes|title=King Kong Theory|rating=4|genre=Autobiography |summary=''King Kong Theory'' is a hard- Bremner hitting memoir and feminist manifesto, which can be seen as a call to arms for women in a phallocentric society broken at its core. Originally written in French, the book is a collection of essays in which Virginie Despentes explores her experiences as 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 original form as independent essays.|isbn=191309734X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1009473085|title=The Conservative Effect 2010 -->2024|author=Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton (Editors)|rating=5|-genre=Politics and Society| stylesummary="widthSometimes it's simpler to explain a 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 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's what you're looking for, I don't think Anthony Seldon's book, {{amazonurl|isbn=B0BH7SKG2S|title=Johnson at 10%; vertical}}, can be bettered for those tumultuous years. It's a compelling read and should be compulsory for anyone who thinks Johnson should return to politics. ''The Conservative Effect'' is an entirely different beast. It's the seventh book in a series which looks at the impact a government has made and co-editor Sir Anthony Seldon regards this as the most important. This book follows the well-alignestablished format: top; texta series of experts from various fields review the state of the nation when the coalition took over in 2010, the changes that occurred and the situation in 2024.}}{{Frontpage|author=Alastair Humphreys|title=Local|rating=5|genre=Travel |summary= Alastair Humphreys has walked and cycled all over the world. And then written about it. For this book he walked and cycled very close to home and then wrote about it. As he says in his introduction, the book is an attempt ''to share what I have learnt about some big issues from a year exploring a small map. Nature loss, pollution, land use and access, agriculture, the food system, rewilding…'' One of the joys of the book for me was that the biggest thing he learned about all of these things was that there are no easy answers, no single 'right or wrong', that every upside is likely to have a downside for somebody and that there are some hard choices ahead.|isbn=1785633678}}{{Frontpage|author=Edel Rodriguez|title=Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey|rating=4|genre=Graphic Novels|summary=We're in childhood, and we're in Cuba. The revolution has happened, and Castro, first thought of as a saviour of the country, has proven himself a Communist, and not done nearly enough to create a level playing field for all. Well, those hours-long speeches of his were kind of taking his time away. Our narrator's 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 some minor pro-alignCommunism skirmish, such as Angola) and the father being watched and watched, and not liked for his successful photography business, success being frowned upon. The mother gets the couple jobs with the party to ease some of the heat, but in this sultry island country, it remains the kind of heat forcing you out of the kitchen…|isbn=1474616720}}{{Frontpage|author=Sarah Wilson|title=This One Wild and Precious Life: center;"the path back to connection in a fractured world|rating=3.5|genre= Lifestyle|summary= My favourite Mary Oliver line is the one in which she asks ''What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?'' I get to love that line so much because my answer is ''This! Precisely this.'' I'm lucky enough to be living my one wild and precious life the way I want to. Sarah Wilson is equally lucky. In her book that takes Oliver's words as her title (though I can't see that she acknowledges the source) she pushes us to think about whether we really ''are'' living the life we want – the best life that we could be living. Her answer is an unequivocal ''no, we are not''. Don't care what you're doing, she thinks you (we, I) could be doing more…And she's effing furious about the fact that we are not.|isbn=1785633848}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1785633457|title=Charging Around: Exploring the Edges of England by Electric Car|author=Clive Wilkinson|rating=5|genre=Travel|summary=Clive Wilkinson has a history of travelling by unconventional means with a preference for slow travel. As he neared his eightieth birthday the idea of exploring the edges of England in an electric car was not totally outrageous. In fact, it should be a pleasant holiday for Clive and his wife, Joan, shouldn't it?[[image}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529153050|title=Britain's Best Political Cartoons 2022|author=Tim Benson|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=Seeking some light relief from the current political turmoil which is coming to seem more and more like an adrenaline sport, I was nudged towards ''Britain's Best Political Cartoons of 2022''. Sharp eyes will have noted that we're not yet through the year:Bremner_Usthe cartoons run from 4 September 2021 to 31 August 2022.jpg Who can imagine what there will be to come in the 2023 edition?}}{{Frontpage|linkisbn=httpB0B7289HKQ|title=Conversations Across America://wwwA Father and Son, Alzheimer's, and 300 Conversations Along the TransAmerica Bike Trail that Capture the Soul of America|author=Kari Loya|rating=4|genre=Travel|summary=Kari (that rhymes with ‘sorry’, by the way) wanted to spend some time with his father and the period between two jobs seemed like a good time to do it. The decision was made to ride the Trans America Bike Trail from Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria, Oregon - all 4250 miles of it - in 2015.amazon They had 73 days to do it - slightly less than the recommended time - but there were factors which pointed this up as more of a challenge that it would be for most people who considered taking it on.co Merv Loya was 75 years old and he was suffering from early-stage Alzheimer's.uk/dp/0525533184/ref}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1739593901|title=22 Ideas About The Future|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=nosim?tag5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=thebookbag''Our future will be more complex than we expected. Instead of flying cars, we got night-21]]vision killer drones and automated elderly care with geolocation surveillance bracelets to track grandma.''

[[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 US city of Minneapolis sent shock waves around the world. We rarely see pictures of a murder taking place but Floyd's death was an exception. The imageof Chauvin kneeling on George's neck is not one which I'll ever forget and the protests which followed cannot have been unexpected. There was a backlash against the police - and not just in Minneapolis:whatever their colour or creed they were ''all'' tarred by the Chauvin brush.}}{{Frontpage|author=Matthieu Aikins|title=The Naked Don't Fear the Water|rating=4.5star5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=It's easy to forget at times that The Naked Don't Fear the Water isn't actually fiction, because it reads very much like a well-paced thriller at times. This is not by any means a criticism, but rather 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.jpgBut it's written with a haunting and almost lyrical quality that allows the reader to perfectly envisage the environments and people described.|linkisbn=Category:{B09N9157T6}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1785633074|title=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, headed by the Prime minister - the ''primus inter pares'' (that's for those of you who are Eton and 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 the 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. You might not know the name now but he will certainly be the man to watch.}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category{{Frontpage|isbn=1846276772|title=The End of Bias:How We Change Our Minds|author=Jessica Nordell|rating=4.5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=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 part of everyday life. White men will always come first. The able will come before the disabled. Jobs, promotions, higher salaries are the preserve of the white man. Even when those who wouldn't pass the medical become a part of an organisation it's rare that their views are heard, that their concerns are acknowledged. It's personally appalling and degrading for the individuals on the receiving end of the bias but it's not just the individuals who are negatively impacted.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529148251|title=Misfits: A Personal Manifesto|author=Michaela Coel|rating=5|genre=Politics and Society]]|summary=''How am I able to be so transparent on paper about rape, malpractice and poverty, yet still compartmentalise? It's as though I were telling the truth whilst simultaneously running away from it.''

It wasnBefore you start reading 't supposed 'Misfits'' you need to be like this, was it? Every day seems in a certain frame of mind. You're not going to bring yet more news read a book of doom and gloomessays or a self-help book. The spectre of terrorism hangs over most of You're going to read writing which was inspired by Michaela Coel's 2018 MacTaggart Lecture to professionals within the television industry at the world, fuelling refugee crises and worries about national securityEdinburgh TV Festival. People keep saying that robots are coming You might be ''reading'' the book but you need to ''listen'' to take all our jobs. Anti-establishment political parties are making huge gains the words as though you're in countries all around the worldlecture theatre. And inequality is as much The disjointedness will fade away and you'll be carried on a cloud of exquisite writing.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008350388|title=We Need to Talk About Money|author=Otegha Uwagba|rating=5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=''To be a problem dark-skinned Black woman is to be seen as it ever was – if not more soless desirable, less hireable, less intelligent and ultimately less valuable than my light-skinned counterparts... [[Us vs Them: The Failure of Globalism '' ''We Need to Talk About Money'' by Ian Bremmer|Full Review]]Otegha Uwagba

<!-- Wolff -->|-| style="width: 10''0.7%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Wolff Trump.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.coof English Literature GCSE students in England study a book by a writer of colour while only 7% study a book by a woman.uk/gp/product/1408711400?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1408711400]]'' ''The Bookseller'' 29 June 2021

{{Frontpage| styleauthor="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|Richard Brook===[[Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|linktitle=CategoryUnderstanding Human Nature:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] As I began listening to ''Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House'' we were treated to the unedifying spectacle of the President of the United States taking to Twitter to establish that he was ''a stable genius'', as opposed, we must conclude to being an unstable... Well, let's not go there. ItA User's a little too frightening: this is the most powerful man in the world. So what made me listen to this book? Well, Donald Trump didn't want me to read it: US presidents don't often go down that road and rarely to a good destination (I'm thinking of Richard Nixon here) and that made me really want Guide to know what was between the covers. But how did the book stack up? [[Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Anderson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Anderson_Fantasyland.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785038656?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785038656]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen]]===Life[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:History|History]], [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] Fantasyland covers the history of America from 1517 to 2017 in awesome detail. Covering five centuries of tempestuous history, Andersen paints the conjuring of America in vivid relief. Discussing everything from pilgrims to politicians, the exhilarating gold rush to alternative facts, seminal episodes are explored in forensic detail with razor sharp wit. [[Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen|Full Review]] <!-- Connolly -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Connolly_working4.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1911585363?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1911585363]] 5| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Know Your Place: Essays on the Working Class by the Working Class by Nathan Connolly]]==genre=Lifestyle [[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] Simple summary: ''Know Your Place'' is an anthology of essays on the working class by the working class. There are twenty-three disparate pieces talking about everything you can imagine: day trips to the seaside, access to the arts, food poverty, pub culture, glass ceilings, housing estates, vulgarity-as-class-marker, and much more.  And a full disclosure: ''Know Your Place'' was brought to fruition by crowdfunding and I was am a contributor. I read the proposed spec and just ''knew'' I would love the book, should it reach its fundraising targetfirm believer that sometimes we choose books, and that's why I stumped up some cashsometimes books choose us. I think class is both an under- and mis-discussed topic with working class people defined externally and talked about rather than listened to or allowed to define themselves. And I really did love the book just as I thought I would. So you know - there's a possible reviewer bias here that you should know about. I like to think I would have criticised ''Know Your Place'' had it fallen short of In my hopes for it but just in case, I'm letting you know. [[Know Your Place: Essays on the Working Class by the Working Class by Nathan Connolly|Full Review]] <!-- Smith -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Smith_Dont.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/147212345X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=147212345X]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Don't Let My Past Be Your Future: A Call to Arms by Harry Leslie Smith]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]], [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]]  Don't Let My Past Be Your Future: A Call to Arms is part autobiography and part rallying call for society to tackle the systemic, endemic and debilitating inequality faced by the people of the United Kingdom, particularly in the North. Through reflecting on his own experiences during his childhood, Harry Leslie Smith has painted a frank and uncompromising picture of the grim, appallingly miserable childhood he had to endure due to the poverty faced by his family contrasted with the, shamefully still, grim and miserable lives many people endure today in a country ravaged by cuts, austerity and political turmoil. [[Don't Let My Past Be Your Future: A Call to Arms by Harry Leslie Smith|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Bristow -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Bristow China.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1910985902?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1910985902]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[China in Drag: Travels with a Cross-dresser by Michael Bristow]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]], [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] Having worked for nine years in Bejing as a journalist for the BBC, author Michael Bristow decided to write about Chinese history. Having been learning the local language for several years, Bristow asked his language teacher for guidance - the language teacher, born in the early fifties, offered Bristow a compelling picture of life in Communist China - but added to that, Bristow was greatly surprised to find that his language teacher also enjoyed spending his spare time in ladies clothing. It soon becomes clear that the tale told here this is immensely personal - yet also paints a fascinating portrait of one of the world's most intriguing nationslatter. [[China in Drag: Travels with a Cross-dresser by Michael Bristow|Full Review]] <!-- Landreth -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Landreth_Swell.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1472938941?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1472938941]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Swell by Jenny Landreth]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]]Not so very long ago, [[:Category:Sport|Sport]], [[:Category:Biography|Biography]] if I love Jenny's own description of her had come across this book as a waterbiography and I love her encouragement that we should each write our own. This is more than just (I say ''just''!) a recollection of the author's own encounters with water; d have skimmed it's also a history , found some of women's fight for the right to swim. That sounds absurd until you start reading about itinteresting, then but it becomes serious. Not too serious though – because Jenny Landreth is clearly a lover of the absurd. Not a lover of book blurbs myself, I do always seek to give a shout-out to those who get it dead right: in this case Iwould not have 'm definitely with Alexandra Heminsleyhit home's ''giggles-on-in the-commute funny''way that it does now. [[Swell by Jenny Landreth|Full Review]] <!-- Maconie -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:MACONIE_lONG.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785030531/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Long Road From Jarrow by Stuart Maconie]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]]  I cancelled my ''Country Walking'' magazine subscription about a year ago and the only thing I miss is Stuart Maconie's column. His down-believe it came to-earth approach and sharp wit belie an equally sharp intellect and a soul more sensitive than he might be willing to admit. Let's be honest, though, I picked this one up me not just because of someone else's review, in which I spotted names like Ferryhill and Newton Aycliffe. Places I grew up in. Like Maconie I have no connection (that I know of) was likely to the Jarrow Crusade but when he talks about give it being ''a whole matrix of events reducible to one word like Aberfan, Hillsborough, or Orgreave'' then somehow it does become part of my history too. Tangentially, at least. [[Long Road From Jarrow by Stuart Maconie|Full Review]] <!-- Grindrod -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Grindrod Outskirts.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473625025/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Outskirts by John Grindrod]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Animals and Wildlife|Animals and Wildlife]], [favourable review [:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]] ''Outskirtsfull disclosure The Bookbag'' is an interesting take on a phenomenon of the modern age: the introduction of the green belt of countryside surrounding inner city housing estatess u. John Grindrod grew up on the edge of one such estate in the 1960's and '70's, as he puts it, ''I grew up on the last road in London.'' Grindrod explores the introduction of the green belt, and the various fights and developments it has gone through over the subsequent decades, as environmental and political arguments have affected planning decisions. Within this topic, he has somehow managed to wind around his personal memories of childhood, producing a memoir with a lot of heart. [[Outskirts by John Grindrod|Full Review]] <!-- Elkin -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Elkin_Flaneuse.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0099593378?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0099593378]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London by Lauren Elkin]]=== [[image:4starp.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:History|History]], [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]] Lauren Elkin is down on suburbs: they're places where you can't or shouldn't be seen walking; places where, in fiction, women who transgress boundaries are punished (thinking of everything from ''Madame Bovary'' to ''Revolutionary Road''). When she imagines to herself what the female version of that well-known historical figure, the carefree ''flâneur'', might be, she thinks about women who freely wandered the world's great cities without having the more insalubrious connotation of the word 'streetwalker' applied to them. [[Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London by Lauren Elkin|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Noor -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Noor_Surgery.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1521173192?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1521173192]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Surgery on the Shoulders of Giants: Letters from a doctor abroad by Saqib Noor]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] 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 ''Surgery on the Shoulders of Giants'' though: Saqib Noor is a junior doctor, training to be an orthopaedic surgeon and over a period of ten years he visited six countries, not as a tourist but to give medical assistance. They're countries which Noor describes as ''fourth world'' - third world with added disaster - and chose their need is desperate. [[Surgery on the Shoulders of Giants: Letters from a doctor abroad by Saqib Noor|Full Review]]<br> <!-- O'Gorman -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ogorman_Forgetfulness.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1501324691/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Forgetfulness: Making the Modern Culture of Amnesia by Francis O'Gorman]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] After a glut of own books about mindfulness it came as something of a relief to encounter ''Forgetfulness'', Francis O'Gorman's thinking on why the twenty-first century is losing touch with the pastrather than getting them randomly, on why what is likely - or could be made - to happen is so much more important than what has gone before. The book there is supremely intelligent, but with the knowledge worn lightly and it's eminently readable, regardless of how you feel about the conclusions he draws. [[Forgetfulness: Making the Modern Culture of Amnesia by Francis O'Gorman|Full Review]] <!-- Williams -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Williams_Culture.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784870811/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Culture and Society 1780-1950 by Raymond Williams]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] From the last decades of the eighteenth century a predisposition towards expecting to like the final words of modernism, this book tracks societal changes through exploring five key words: industry, democracy, class, art and culture. The meanings of such things, their essence, changes as per their use and the era in which their implications were considered. [[Culture and Society 1780-1950 by Raymond Williams|Full Review]] <!-- West -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:West_Get.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1845409337/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Get Over Yourself: Nietzsche for our times by Patrick West]]=== [[image:1star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] ''Get Over Yourself'' considers Nietzsche's imagined perceptions of modern society and uses our society to explain his philosophy. I'm sorry even 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 the wiser about the purpose of this book. It appears to be a series of personal opinions held together with quotes, which dondoesn't always appear relevant, from Nietzsche, Chumbawumba and newspaper articles. [[Get Over Yourself: Nietzsche for our times by Patrick West|Full Review]] <!-- Scott-Clark -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Levy_Exile.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408858762/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Exile by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] An account of the fate of Al Qaeda and the Bin Laden family since the events of 9/11, ''The Exileturn out that way'' plunges into the murky waters of international terrorism, espionage and politics. Detailed and meticulous, the book tackles the subject from all angles, providing a panoramic view of the subject and acting to enlighten and inform the reader. [[The Exile by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy|Full Review]]  <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->|} {{newreview|author= Emily Clarkson|title= Can I Speak to Someone in Charge?|rating= 4.5|genre= Politics and Society|summary=''Can I Speak to Someone in Charge?'', blogger Emily Clarkson's debut book, – but also because it is a fierce, witty and laugh-out-loud funny ode to feminism. In a series of open letters, she addresses the issues faced by every modern woman, discussing everything from dealing with body hair to being made book I needed to feel uncomfortable in the gym, as well as more personal issues, like her experiences of being 'catfished' and sent abuse online. This is a vital read for any girl born in the 1990s, tackling some very serious social injustices beneath its fun exteriorright now.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1471156907</amazonuk>1800461682

 {{newreview|author= Rebecca Asher|title= Man Up|rating= 5|genre= Politics I was going to argue. I mean, cows are for cheese (I couldn't consider eating red meat...) and Society|summary= When a couple I much prefer my elephants in the wild but then I realised that I was quibbling for the sake of years ago it. Essentially that quote sums up my university introduced compulsory consent workshops along with attitude to animals - and I consider myself an option of 'good lad' sessions for boys, all debate broke looseanimal lover. Shouldn't consent be self-evident for everyone? Would If I had to choose between the workshops reinforce company of humans and the stereotype company of 'laddish' boys? Would it all be about pointing fingers at boys 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 victimizing girls? What about non-binary people? In short, how could these workshops I needed to either do so without guilt or change my choices. I suspected that making the decision would not be anything else than a mission doomed to failure?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784701807</amazonuk>comfortable.

{{newreview|author= Carolina de Robertis|title= Radical Hope|rating= 4|genre= Politics and Society|summary= On 8th November 2016, Donald Trump was elected as Sometimes the 46th President of reviewing gods are generous: at a time when violence against women is much in the United States. Since then many Americans have been overcome with fearnews, worrying about what will become of American society during Trump''A Women's administrationGuide to Claiming Space'' by Eliza Van Cort dropped onto my desk. Carolina de Robertis was no exception Now - to be clear - this fear and in response book is not a 'how to disable your attacker with two simple jabs' manual: it's something far more effective, but discussion at the newly elected President and his policies she put out a call for actionmoment seems to be about how women can be ''protected''. Radical Hope is the outcome I've always thought that women need to rise above this call. De Robertis reached out , to fellow writers and activists asking for lettersbe people who don't need protection, predominantly letters of lovepeople who claim their own space. If all women did this, addressed those few men who are violent to the citizens of today and those of past and future generations in order women would realise that we are not just an easy target to be used to help spread hope during times of uncertaintyprove that they are big men.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0349010102</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Matthew d'AnconaPolly Barton|title=Post-Truth: The New War on Truth and How to Fight BackFifty Sounds|rating=34.5

|summary=Where do I start? I could start with where Barton herself starts, with the question ''Our own post-truth era is what happens when society relaxes its defence of values that underpin cohesion, namely veracity, honesty and accountability.Why Japan?'' I'm old enough or perhaps naive enough to believe that when making Japan has been on my radar for a decision about political voting, you should be able to rely absolutely on what while and if the candidate tells youworld hadn't gone into melt-down I would have visited by now. I've been suspicious for a decade or moremay get there later this year, but itI am not hopeful. And like Barton, I don's become difficult to ignore t know the change in political attitudes since Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. With regard answer to the latter, when Trump was challenged on a statement he'd made which was subsequently found to be incorrect, his response was question ''Who cares if I got it wrongwhy Japan?'' He was able to tap to the fading concept She explains her feelings in respect of 'the American Dream' - those Americans who were used to waiting patiently question in line and who had found themselves overtaken by the first essay, which is on the sound ''women, immigrants and public sector workersgiro''.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785036874</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Stephen Moss|title= Wild Kingdom: Bringing Back Britain's Wildlife|rating= 4|genre= Animals and Wildlife|summary= Wildlife has been declining in Britain over – which she describes as being, among other things, the last few decades; it is an unfortunate by-product sound of human population growth, which in the modern world has increased significantly. Through this book Moss suggests a few ways in which we can start ''every party where you have to bring back some of Britainintroduce yourself''s wildlife without compromising the human way of life: we can co-exist with nature. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0099581639</amazonuk>1913097501