Changes

{{Frontpage|classauthor=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-"wikitable" cellpaddinglong 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-Communism 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="15" <This One Wild and Precious Life: 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?}}{{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: the cartoons run from 4 September 2021 to 31 August 2022. Who can imagine what there will be to come in the 2023 edition?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0B7289HKQ|title=Conversations Across America: A 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 - INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HEREin 2015. 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. Merv Loya was 75 years old and he was suffering from early-stage Alzheimer's.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1739593901|title=22 Ideas About The Future|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=''Our future will be more complex than we expected. Instead of flying cars, we got night->vision killer drones and automated elderly care with geolocation surveillance bracelets to track grandma.''

<!I've got a couple of confessions to make. I'm not keen on short stories as I find it easy to read a few stories and then forget to return to the book. There's got to be a very compelling hook to keep me engaged. Then there's science fiction: far too often it's the technology which takes centre stage along with the world-building. It's human beings who fascinate me: the technology and the world scape are purely incidental. So, what did I think of a book of twenty- Bremner two science fiction short stories? Well, I loved it. }}{{Frontpage|author=Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams |title=The Book of Hope |rating=5|genre=Politics and Society |summary= The done thing is to read a book all the 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 experience of reading this amazing book, I want to capture it as it hits me. And it is hitting me. This beautiful book has me in tears. |isbn=024147857X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1788360737|title= Artivism: The Battle for Museums in the Era of Postmodernism|author=Alexander Adams|rating=2|genre= Politics and Society|summary= Can art ever be apolitical? All art is political because art is not made in a vacuum. It is made by people. Antonio Gramsci stated that ‘’Every man… contributes to modifying the social environment in which he develops’’. Therefore, all art must be political, even implicitly. Alexander Adams in his new book ‘Artivism: The Battle for Museum in the Era of Postmodernism’ is adamant that art is freer when it is art for art’s sake. The recent trend of so-called artivism has caused artists to become more overtly political (read: left wing). Their seemingly grass roots movements have been astroturfed by large “left->wing” donors and media elites hoping to create a more globalist and progressive regime. Or at least that’s what Alexander Adams believes.}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=1398508632|title=The Wilderness Cure|author=Mo Wilde|rating=5|genre=Lifestyle| stylesummary="width: 10%; verticalIt had been on the cards for a while but it was the week-alignlong consumer binge which pushed Mo Wilde into beginning her year of eating only wild food. The end of November, particularly in Central Scotland was perhaps not the best time to start, in a world where the normal sores had been exacerbated by climate change, Brexit and a pandemic. Wilde had a few advantages: top; textthe area around her was a known habitat with a variety of terrains. She had electricity which allowed her to run a fridge, freezer and dehydrator. She had a car -alignand fuel. Most importantly, she had shelter: center;"this was not a plan to ''live'' wild just to live off its produce.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529149800[[image|title=Things You Can Do:Bremner_Us.jpgHow to Fight Climate Change and Reduce Waste|author=Eduardo Garcia and Sara Boccaccini Meadows|rating=4|genre=Home and Family|linksummary=httpWe 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://wwwwhat good was that doing.amazon ''I'm doing the best I can'', said the hummingbird.co And that, really, is the only way that we will solve the problem of climate change – by each of us doing what we can, however small that might be.uk/dp/0525533184/ref}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1638485216|title=nosim?tagBlack, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man's Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement|author=Frederick Reynolds|rating=5|genre=Autobiography|summary=thebookbag-21]]''Corruption is not department, gender or race specific. It has everything to do with character. Period.''

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 image of 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| styletitle="verticalThe 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, because it reads very much like a well-align: top; textpaced 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. But it's written with a haunting and almost lyrical quality that allows the reader to perfectly envisage the environments and people described.|isbn= 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 -alignwho 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.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1846276772|title=The End of Bias: left;"How We Change Our Minds|author=Jessica Nordell|rating=4.5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=[[Us vs ThemAnyone 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 Failure 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 Globalism by Ian Bremmer]]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.''

[[image:4Before you start reading ''Misfits'' you need to be in a certain frame of mind. You're not going to read a book of essays or a self-help book. You're going to read writing which was inspired by Michaela Coel's 2018 MacTaggart Lecture to professionals within the television industry at the Edinburgh TV Festival. You might be ''reading'' the book but you need to ''listen'' to the words as though you're in the lecture theatre.5star The disjointedness will fade away and you'll be carried on a cloud of exquisite writing.jpg}}{{Frontpage|linkisbn=Category:{{{0008350388|title=We Need to Talk About Money|author=Otegha Uwagba|rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society=5|genre=Politics and Society]] It wasn|summary=''t supposed To be a dark-skinned Black woman is to be like thisseen as less desirable, was it? Every day seems to bring yet more news of doom and gloom. The spectre of terrorism hangs over most of the worldless hireable, fuelling refugee crises less intelligent and worries about national securityultimately less valuable than my light-skinned counterparts. People keep saying that robots are coming to take all our jobs. Anti-establishment political parties are making huge gains in countries all around the world. And inequality is as much of a problem as it ever was – if not more so. [[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

 | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] As I began listening Otegha Uwagba came 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 UK from Kenya when she was ''a stable genius'', as opposed, we must conclude to being an unstable..five years old. Well, let's not go thereHer sisters were seven and nine. It'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 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]]=== [[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 historyher mother who came first, 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 wither father joining them later. [[Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen|Full Review]] <!-- Connolly - The family was hard->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Connolly_working.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1911585363?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1911585363]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Know Your Place: Essays on the Working Class by the Working Class by Nathan Connolly]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=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 a contributor. I read the proposed spec and just ''knew'' I would love the book, should it reach its fundraising target, principled and determined that's why I stumped up some cash. 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 their children would have criticised ''Know Your Place'' had it fallen short of 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_Dontbest education possible.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 There 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 is immensely personal - yet also paints always a fascinating portrait of one painful awareness of the world's most intriguing nations. [[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]], [[:Category:Sport|Sport]], [[:Category:Biography|Biography]] I love Jenny's own description of her 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; it's also a history of women's fight for the right to swim. That sounds absurd until you start reading about it, then 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 money although this case I'm definitely with Alexandra Heminsley's ''giggles-on-the-commute funny''. [[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-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 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) to the Jarrow Crusade but when he talks about 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]], [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]] ''Outskirts'' is an interesting take on did not translate into a phenomenon shortage of the modern ageanything: the introduction of the green belt of countryside surrounding inner city housing estates. 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 Londonwas simply carefully harvested.'' 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:4star.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 Otegha was ten 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 family acquired 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 metcar. 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 countriesFor Otegha, not as education meant a tourist but scholarship to give medical assistance. They're countries which Noor describes as ''fourth world'' - third world with added disaster - and 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 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 past, on why what is likely - or could be made - to happen is so much more important than what has gone before. The book 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]]  <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> |} {{newreview|author= Raymond Williams|title= Culture and Society 1780-1950|rating= 4|genre= Politics and Society|summary= From the last decades of the eighteenth century to 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 private school in which their implications were considered.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784870811</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Patrick West|title= Get Over Yourself: Nietzsche for our times|rating= 1|genre= Politics London and Society|summary= Get Over Yourself considers Nietzsche's imagined perceptions of modern society and uses our society to explain his philosophy. I'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 the wiser about the purpose of this book. It appears to be then a series of personal opinions held together with quotes, which don't always appear relevantplace at New College, from Nietzsche, Chumbawumba and newspaper articlesOxford.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845409337</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author= Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian LevyRichard Brook|title= The ExileUnderstanding Human Nature: A User's Guide to Life|rating= 4.5|genre= Politics and SocietyLifestyle|summary= An account of the fate of Al Qaeda I am a firm believer that sometimes we choose books, and the Bin Laden family since the events sometimes books choose us. In my case, this is one of 9/11, ''The Exile'' plunges into the murky waters of international terrorism, espionage and politicslatter. Detailed and meticulousNot so very long ago, the if I had come across this book tackles the subject from all anglesI'd have skimmed it, providing a panoramic view found some of it interesting, but it would not have 'hit home' in the subject and acting to enlighten and inform the readerway that it does now.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408858762</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Emily Clarkson|title= Can I Speak believe it came to Someone in Charge?|rating= 4.5|genre= Politics and Society|summary=''Can me not just because I Speak was likely to Someone in Charge?give it a favourable review [ '', blogger Emily Clarksonfull disclosure The Bookbag's debut booku.s.p. is that people chose their own books rather than getting them randomly, so there is a fierce, witty and laugh-out-loud funny ode predisposition towards expecting to feminism. In a series of open letters, she addresses like the issues faced by every modern womanbook, discussing everything from dealing with body hair to being made to feel uncomfortable in the gym, as well as more personal issues, like her experiences of being even if it doesn't always turn out that way'catfished' and sent abuse online. This ] – but also because it is a vital book I needed to 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 t know the answer to ignore the change question ''why Japan?'' She explains her feelings in political attitudes since Brexit and respect of the election of Donald Trump. With regard to question in the latterfirst essay, when Trump was challenged which is on a statement hethe sound ''giro' ''d made – which was subsequently found to be incorrectshe describes as being, among other things, his response was the sound of ''Who cares if I got it wrong?every party where you have to introduce yourself'' .|isbn=1913097501}}{{Frontpage|author=Stephen Fabes|title=Signs of Life|rating=5|genre=Travel|summary= I was brought up on maps and first-person narratives of tales of far away places. I was birth-righted wanderlust and curiosity. He Unfortunately, I didn't inherit what Dr. Stephen Fabes clearly had which was able to tap the guts to simply go out and do it. I also didn't inherit the fading concept kind of 'the American Dream' - those Americans who were used steady nerve, ability to talk to waiting patiently in line strangers and who basic practicality that would have meant that I would have survived if I had found themselves overtaken by been gifted with the requisite 'bottle'. In order words I'women, immigrants m not the sort of person who will get on a bike outside a London hospital and public sector workers''not come home for six years. Fabes did precisely that.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1785036874</amazonuk>1788161211

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Stephen Moss1504321383|title= Wild Kingdom: Bringing Back Britain's WildlifeSingle, Again, and Again, and Again|author=Louisa Pateman|rating= 4.5|genre= Animals and WildlifeAutobiography|summary= Wildlife has been declining ''You can't be happy and fulfilled on your own. You are not complete until you find a man''. This was what Louisa Pateman was brought up to believe. It wasn't unkind: it was simply the adults in Britain over her life advising her as to what they thought would be best for her. It was reinforced by all those fairy tales where the last few decades; it girl (she's usually fairly young) is an unfortunate rescued by-product of human population growth, which in the modern world has increased significantlyhandsome prince who then marries her so that they can live happily ever after. Through this book Moss suggests a few ways in which we can start Few girls are lucky enough to bring back some of Britainbe brought up ''s wildlife without compromising '' the human way of life: we can co-exist with natureexpectation that they will marry and have children. It was a belief and it would be many years before Louisa would conclude that ''a belief is a choice''. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099581639</amazonuk>