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[[Category:New Reviews|Politics and Society]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Saqib NoorEdward W Said|title=Surgery on Representations of the Shoulders of Giants: Letters from a doctor abroadIntellectual |rating=4.5|genre=AutobiographyPolitics and Society|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. ItEdward Said's just a little different in ''Surgery on Representations of the Shoulders of GiantsIntellectual'' though: Saqib Noor is less a junior doctor, training to be an orthopaedic surgeon strict theory of what intellectuals are and over more a period passionate argument for what they should be. Said clearly rejects the comfortable image of ten years he visited six countries, not the intellectual as a tourist but detached expert speaking only to give medical assistanceother specialists. They're countries which Noor describes Instead, he insists on the intellectual as ''fourth world'' - third world with added disaster - a public figure, often awkward, abrasive, and their need unpopular, who speaks truth to power even when it is desperateinconvenient or risky.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1521173192</amazonuk>1804272248

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Rebecca AsherAriel Saramandi|title= Man UpPortrait of an Island on Fire|rating= 4.5|genre= Politics and Society|summary= When a couple In this powerful collection of years ago my university introduced compulsory consent workshops along with an option 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'good lad' sessions for boys, all debate broke loose. Shouldn't consent be self-evident a blunt yet apt metaphor for everyone? Would the workshops reinforce systemic decay brought about by the stereotype malignant forces of 'laddish' boys? Would it all be about pointing fingers at boys racism, patriarchy, environmental degradation and victimizing girls? What about non-binary people? In shortgovernmental dysfunction. Each essay in this collection serves as a kind of diagnostic, how could these workshops be anything else than a mission doomed to failure?charting the various diseases afflicting the island state.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1784701807</amazonuk>1804271616

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= John GrindrodGregor Hens and Jen Calleja (translator)|title= OutskirtsThe City and the World|rating= 4|genre =Animals Politics and WildlifeSociety|summary=In ''OutskirtsThe City and the World'' is an interesting take on , Gregor Hens reveals how cities are as much imagined spaces as they are physical ones. With a phenomenon of deep affection for the modern age: the introduction of the green belt of countryside surrounding inner city housing estates. John Grindrod grew up urban landscapes that have shaped his life, Hens reflects on the edge of one such estate in the 1960's and '70'splaces like Cologne, as he puts itBerlin, ''I grew up and Goch on the last road in LondonLower Rhine with a blend of personal memory and thoughtful observation.'' Grindrod explores the introduction of the green beltHis writing, at times abstract, and captures not just architectural features but the various fights emotional and developments it has gone through over the subsequent decadesmental geographies tied to each location, for example, his perspectives as a child as opposed to as environmental an adult. From Belgium and Germany to Berkeley and political arguments have affected planning decisions. Within this topicColumbus, he has somehow managed to wind around his personal memories Hens traces a map of childhoodexperiences, producing a memoir with a lot turning cities into reflections of heartidentity and belonging.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1473625025</amazonuk>1804271691

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Carolina de RobertisPaul B Preciado|title= Radical HopeDysphoria Mundi|rating= 4.5|genre= Politics and Society|summary= On 8th November 2016''It is never too late to embrace the revolutionary optimism of childhood''  Through this hybrid text, Donald Trump was elected consisting of arias, letters, essays and autofiction, Preciado expresses his own hybrid self, and brings forth a new sensorium as an offering to the 46th President new generation, a new feeling mechanism in which detachment is not considered a sign of political apathy. Rather, it is the United States. Since then many Americans have been overcome with fearproportional, worrying about what will become of American society during Trumpvalid response to ''s administration. Carolina de Robertis was no exception to this fear the epistemological and political crack we are living through, and in response to the newly elected President tension between emancipatory forces and his policies she put out a call for actionconservative resistances that characterize our present'' which Preciado calls ''dysphoria mundi''. Radical Hope The whole text is framed against the backdrop of the outcome to Covid-19 pandemic as that which has catalysed this call. De Robertis reached out revolution, when dysphoria began to fellow writers and activists asking for lettersemerge on a global scale, predominantly letters or as ''pangea covidica''. Rather than taking this extreme dysphoria as a sign of loveweakness, addressed or mistaking detachment or withdrawal for political paralysis, Preciado urges his readers to the citizens of today and those of past and future generations in order to help spread hope during times of uncertainty''use dysphoria as your revolutionary platform''.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0349010102</amazonuk>1804271454

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Matthew d'AnconaJacqueline Feldman|title=Post-Truth: The New War on Truth and How to Fight BackPrecarious Lease

|summary=Dederer sets out to unveil what she calls a ''Our own post-truth era is what happens when society relaxes its defence biography of values that underpin cohesionthe audience'' in a deconstructed, namely veracitythoroughly nitpicked, honesty and accountability.exploration of the old aphorism of separating the art from the artist in the context of contemporary ''cancel culture' I'm old enough or perhaps naive enough to believe that when making a decision about political voting, you should be able to rely absolutely on what the candidate tells you. I've been suspicious for a decade or more, but itDederer's become difficult to ignore work is original and expressive. The reader gets the impression that the change in political attitudes since Brexit thoughts simply sprang and leapt from her brilliant mind and onto the election of Donald Trumppage. With regard to In particular, the prologue packs a punch: she simultaneously condemns and exalts the latterdirector Roman Polanski, when Trump was challenged on a statement he'd made which was subsequently found to be incorrectan artist she personally admires for his art, and yet despises for his response was actions. This model of ''Who cares if I got it wrong?monstrous men'' He was able to tap to as she calls them, is consistent for the first few chapters, interrogating the fading concept likes of 'the American Dream' - those Americans who were used to waiting patiently in line Woody Allen, Michael Jackson and Pablo Picasso. Her critical voice is acutely present throughout, never slipping into anonymity and who had found themselves overtaken by ''womenmaintaining her own subjectivity, as she holds it so dearly, immigrants and public sector workers''a personal, rather than collective voice.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1785036874</amazonuk>1399715070

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Stephen MossVirginie Despentes|title= Wild Kingdom: Bringing Back Britain's WildlifeKing Kong Theory|rating= 4|genre= Animals and WildlifeAutobiography |summary= Wildlife has been declining in Britain over the last few decades; it ''King Kong Theory'' is an unfortunate bya hard-product of human population growthhitting 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 modern world has increased significantly. Through this book Moss suggests is a few ways collection of essays in which we can start to bring back some of Britain's wildlife without compromising Virginie Despentes explores her experiences as a woman through the human way complex prism of her varied life: we from rape to sex work and pornography. Though these discussions are intertwined, their placement within the book can co-exist with naturefeel somewhat disjointed, a reflection of their original form as independent essays. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0099581639</amazonuk>191309734X

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Nick Clegg1009473085|title=Politics: Between the ExtremesThe Conservative Effect 2010 - 2024|author=Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton (Editors)|rating=4.5

|summary=Sometimes it's simpler to explain a book by describing what it ''isn't'' and that applies to ''The political landscape is changing rapidly at the momentConservative Effect: 2010-2024 - 14 Wasted Years?''. A little more than two years ago we were facing If you're looking for an easy read which will deliver the end of inside story about what ''really'' happened on certain occasions, then this isn't the UKbook for you. If that's first coalition government since World War II and fully expecting that we would see anotherwhat you're looking for, I don't think Anthony Seldon's book, {{amazonurl|isbn=B0BH7SKG2S|title=Johnson at 10}}, can be bettered for those tumultuous years. Instead we saw It's a Conservative government elected with a workable majority. Brexit saw the end of one Prime Minister compelling read and another elected by a few members of parliamentshould be compulsory for anyone who thinks Johnson should return to politics. As I write we're facing another general election, with a 'The Conservative landslide predictedEffect'' is an entirely different beast. In two years weIt've seen 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 Liberal Democrats collapse well-established format: a series of experts from being part various fields review the state of the ruling nation when the coalition to a party whose MPs could hold a meeting took over in 2010, the changes that occurred and the situation in a decent-sized car2024.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784704164</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Jess PhillipsAlastair Humphreys|title= Everywoman: One Woman's Truth About Speaking the TruthLocal|rating=3.5|genre= Politics and SocietyTravel |summary=''Everywoman'' announces itself proudlyAlastair 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, with a chapter named the book is an attempt ''The Truth to share what I have learnt about Speaking up''some big issues from a year exploring a small map. Jess Phillips Nature loss, pollution, land use and access, agriculture, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardleyfood system, tells us many times that she is rewilding…''gobby 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' and , that she has every upside is likely to have a loud voice. Her voice does come through, clear downside for somebody and urgent. Using her journey to Westminster and her experiences in Parliament, Phillips teaches the reader the truths she's learned on her journeythat there are some hard choices ahead.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1786330776</amazonuk>1785633678

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Tormod V BurkeyEdel Rodriguez|title=Ethics for a Full World or, Can Animal-Lovers Save the World?Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey

|genre= Animals and WildlifeGraphic Novels|summary= Burkey argues that manWe're in childhood, and we's current practices are outside the realms re in Cuba. The revolution has happened, and Castro, first thought of nature. He is no longer part as a saviour of the ecosystemcountry, but instead exists above it through his dominating ways. He is has proven himself distanced even further by advancement in technologies, industrya Communist, money and not done nearly enough to create a level playing field for all the pollution that comes with them. The natural worldWell, Burkey arguesthose hours-long speeches of his were kind of taking his time away. Our narrator's family weren't in the happiest of places here, no longer exists for man because an uncle refusing to be the good soldier the country demanded (especially as he has altered it by would probably be shipped off to some minor pro-Communism skirmish, such thingsas Angola) and the father being watched and watched, and not liked for his successful photography business, success being frowned upon. Indeed The mother gets the couple jobs with the party to ease some of the heat, global warming has caused climate change, whichbut in this sultry island country, if it continues, will make remains the kind of heat forcing you out of the kitchen…|isbn=1474616720}}{{Frontpage|author=Sarah Wilson|title=This One Wild and Precious Life: the path back to connection in a fractured world unrecognisable|rating=3. For 5|genre= Lifestyle|summary= My favourite Mary Oliver line is the world one in which she asks ''What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?'' I get to become fuller, for it love that line so much because my answer is ''This! Precisely this.'' I'm lucky enough to be a world 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 seeks she acknowledges the source) she pushes us to provide for think about whether we really ''are'' living the life we want – the needs of every best life that we could be living thing. Her answer is an unequivocal ''no, then it needs to changewe 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. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1905570856</amazonuk>1785633848

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Benjamin Wittes and Gabriella Blum1785633457|title= The Future of Violence - Robots and Germs, Hackers and DronesCharging Around: Confronting Exploring the New Age Edges of ThreatEngland by Electric Car|author=Clive Wilkinson|rating= 45|genre=Politics and SocietyTravel|summary=Looking back over this month, April 2017, the news Clive Wilkinson has been full a history of terrorist attacks perpetrated travelling by lone individualsunconventional means with a preference for slow travel. A suicide bombing on As he neared his eightieth birthday the St Petersburg Metro killed 15 people and injured 64 moreidea of exploring the edges of England in an electric car was not totally outrageous. In Stockholmfact, Sweden, a hijacked truck steered into it should be a pedestrian shopping area pleasant holiday for Clive and department store. Most recentlyhis wife, a shooting in Paris just two days agoJoan, claimed the life of a police officer and injured several others. Whilst shouldn't it is true that governments have access to impressive, cutting-edge technology to combat terrorism, it is also a fact that these resources are becoming increasingly available to individuals. At what cost?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445655934</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Lynn Knight1529153050|title= The Button BoxBritain's Best Political Cartoons 2022|author=Tim Benson|rating= 4|genre= HistoryHumour|summary= Buttons are Seeking some light relief from the underdogs 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 clothing worldyear: dismissed as functional elements of clothing, falling into the same dustbin category with zips and shoe laces, they tend cartoons run from 4 September 2021 to 31 August 2022. Who can imagine what there will be seen as necessary for keeping clothes on, rather than contributors to style. But Lynn Knight is set to prove that the opposite is true. We think nothing of lacing discussions about clothing and feminism with headscarves, bikinis, and underweight models – and buttons deserve a place on come in the pedestal of gender discussion, too.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099593092</amazonuk>2023 edition?

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Paul FlynnB0B7289HKQ|title= Good As YouConversations Across America: From Prejudice to Pride - 30 Years A Father and Son, Alzheimer's, and 300 Conversations Along the TransAmerica Bike Trail that Capture the Soul of Gay BritainAmerica|author=Kari Loya|rating= 54|genre= History Travel|summary=The last 30 years have seen a tidal wave of change sweep the country Kari (that rhymes with regards to how gay people are perceived and accepted. In 1984‘sorry’, by the pulsing electronic beats of ''Smalltown Boy'' became an anthem way) wanted to unite Gay Men, but just a month later, a virus called HIV would be identified, spreading a climate of panic spend some time with his father and fear across the nation, and marginalising period between two jobs seemed like a community who were already ostracisedgood time to do it. 30 years later though The decision was made to ride the Trans America Bike Trail from Yorktown, the long road Virginia to gay equality would reach a climax with the legalistion Astoria, Oregon - all 4250 miles of gay marriageit - in 2015. Journalist Paul Flynn charts this remarkable journey via They had 73 days to do it - slightly less than the cultural milestones that affected recommended time - but there were factors which pointed this change - with interviews with such protagonists up as Kylie, Russell T Davies, Will Young, Holly Johnson more of a challenge that it would be for most people who considered taking it on. Merv Loya was 75 years old and Lord Chris Smith. This is the story of Britainhe was suffering from early-stage Alzheimer's brothers, sons, cousins, fathers and husbands. Of public outrage and personal loss, the (not always legal) highs and desperate lows, and the final collective victory as Gay Men were finally recognised to be as Good As You. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785032925</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Mark Aylwin Thomas1739593901|title= Blades of Grass22 Ideas About The Future|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating= 4.5|genre= BiographyScience Fiction|summary= Any book that has me in tears at the end has been worth my time''Our future will be more complex than we expected. Any book that has me hoping it will end differently 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 the way make. I'm not keen on short stories as I know find it must is worth easy to read a few stories and then forget to return to the readingbook. Any book that convinces There's got to be a very compelling hook to keep me that maybe engaged. Then there is still hope in the world – that for all 's science fiction: far too often it's the mistakes made thus far, still being made right now, there is a common humanity technology which ultimately, eventually, must do some good – that is worth takes centre stage along with the writing and world-building. It's human beings who fascinate me: the reading technology and the timeworld scape are purely incidental. Blades So, what did I think of Grass is one such a book. of twenty-two science fiction short stories? It's a forgotten storyWell, an unknown story to most people. It is one that should be told – and reflected uponI loved it.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524676969</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=John PrestonJane Goodall and Douglas Abrams |title=A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart The Book of the EstablishmentHope

|genre=True CrimePolitics and Society |summary=Jeremy Thorpe was the sort of person who was generally liked by others. He was flamboyant and gregarious but could give The done thing is to read a book all the impression that meeting someone had made his day. He never seemed way through before you sit down to forget a name and he was witty, charismatic and very charmingreview it. He appeared to be a decent manI’m making an exception here, with views with which because I would have agreed on race, capital punishment and membership don’t want to lose any of the Common Marketexperience of reading this amazing book, I want to capture it as the European Union was then knownit hits me. For this was the nineteen sixties and Thorpe had entered Parliament at the age of thirty and by 1967 he would be party leaderAnd it is hitting me. On the surface he was a man who had everything going for himThis beautiful book has me in tears.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0241973740</amazonuk>024147857X

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Sarah Bakewell1788360737|title= At Artivism: The Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being and Apricot CocktailsBattle for Museums in the Era of Postmodernism|author=Alexander Adams|rating=42

|summary= You know that old saying about judging books Can art ever be apolitical? All art is political because art is not made in a vacuum. It is made by their cover? Ignore it! I have found people. Antonio Gramsci stated that by judging a ‘’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 by its cover and getting ‘Artivism: The Battle for Museum in the Era of Postmodernism’ is adamant that art is freer when it completely wrong is a great way art for art’s sake. The recent trend of so-called artivism has caused artists to find yourself committed 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 reading a book that you'd never have picked in create a million years more globalist and yet, somehow, being amazingly glad you didprogressive regime. Or at least that’s what Alexander Adams believes.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099554887</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Tony Benn and Ruth Winstone (editor)1398508632|title=The Benn Diaries: The Definitive CollectionWilderness Cure|author=Mo Wilde

|genre=BiographyLifestyle|summary=Tony Benn must be one of It had been on the cards for a while but it was the most famous diarists week-long consumer binge which pushed Mo Wilde into beginning her year of the modern ageeating only wild food. He kept a diary from his schooldays The end of November, particularly in Central Scotland was perhaps not the nineteen forties until he made his last entry best time to start, in 2009a world where the normal sores had been exacerbated by climate change, five years before his deathBrexit and a pandemic. Benn Wilde had a few advantages: the area around her was also a particularly charismatic politician: since my teens I've found myself listening to him believing that I disagreed known habitat with what he was saying and then realising that perhaps we weren't so far apart after all. Whatever he spoke about always gave food for thoughta variety of terrains. Of course the ideal way She had electricity which allowed her to enjoy the diaries would be to read the individual volumesrun a fridge, beginning with {{amazonurl|isbn=0099497719|title=Years Of Hope: Diaries,Letters freezer and Papers 1940dehydrator. She had a car -1962}}, but that's a lengthy undertaking and ''The Benn Diaries: The Definitive Collection'' edited by Ruth Winstone gives you the opportunity to sample the best of the diaries in a mere seven hundred or so pagesfuel. Be warned thoughMost importantly, she had shelter: there has been this was not a previous {{amazonurl|isbn=0099634112|title=composite volume}}, also called plan to ''The Benn Diarieslive'' and published in 1996. The current volume goes wild just to 2009live off its produce.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786330768</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Henning Mankell1529149800|title= QuicksandThings You Can Do: How to Fight Climate Change and Reduce Waste|author=Eduardo Garcia and Sara Boccaccini Meadows|rating= 54|genre= AutobiographyHome and Family|summary= How do you judge We begin with a book? telling story. Not by its coverAll the birds and animals fled when the forest fire took hold and most of them stood and watched, we're toldunable to think of anything they could do. In my case, often by The tiny hummingbird flew to the number river and began taking tiny amounts of turned down corners or post-it-note-marked pages by water and flying back to drop them into the time I've finished reading itfire. Sometimes, by whether I worry about leaving its characters to fend for themselves while I take a break…or by how much of it stays with me afterwards or for how longThe animals laughed: what good was that doing. In this case, it doesn't matter. However, 'I judge 'm doing the best I can'Quicksand'' the judgement comes up , said the samehummingbird. This collection of vignettes from an ageingAnd that, possibly dyingreally, writer looking back on his own life is as powerful as it is simplethe only way that we will solve the problem of climate change – by each of us doing what we can, as easy to read as it is impossible to forgethowever small that might be.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784701564</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Anne Glyn-Jones1638485216|title= Morse Code Wrens of Station XBlack, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man's Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement|author=Frederick Reynolds|rating= 4.5|genre= HistoryAutobiography|summary= Bletchley Park ''Corruption is probably now the least secret of all the secret ops that went on during World War IInot department, gender or race specific. I for one am pleased about that: technology It has moved on so far that there caneverything to do with character. Period.'' ''One more body just wouldn't be anything that happened back then 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 US city of Minneapolis sent shock waves around the communications front that is worth continuing to shroud in mysteryworld. With most We rarely see pictures of the participants either departed or at least in the departure lounge, the more recollections we can still gather the bettera murder taking place but Floyd's death was an exception. What remained secret far longer however, The image of Chauvin kneeling on George's neck is not one which I'll ever forget and the work of the telegraphers that served Station X: those posted to the Y-stationsprotests which followed cannot have been unexpected. There are few of them left to tell their tales, so I applaud those who finally saw fit (was a) to release them from their lifebacklash against the police -long bonds of secrecy and (b) encourage them to write it down, tell us what it was really likenot just in Minneapolis: whatever their colour or creed they were ''all'' tarred by the Chauvin brush.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845409086</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Donald NaismithMatthieu Aikins|title=A Bradford ApprenticeshipThe Naked Don't Fear the Water|rating=4.5

|summary=with all schools removed from their control and established as freestanding and self-governing academies. In effect this would (and possibly will) mean It's easy to forget at times that what was once a national serviceThe Naked Don't Fear the Water isn't actually fiction, locally administered will become because it reads very much like a local service, nationally administeredwell-paced thriller at times. Donald Naismith This is perhaps best known as the former Chief Education Officer of Richmond-upon-Thamesnot by any means a criticism, Croydon and then Wandsworth but rather a testament to how well Matthieu Aikins – a Canadian citizen who decided to accompany his education friend as a refugee from Afghanistan through Europe – recounts a vast and at times painful journey. There are tense moments and formative working years took place in his adopted home city gripping accounts of Bradford. In ''A Bradford Apprenticeship'' he gives us an affectionate tribute to the city border crossings which made him what he is and his thoughts had me on edge the education systemwhole way through. Bradford was once one of the countryBut it's leading education authorities written with a haunting and he values almost lyrical quality that allows the opportunities it gave him reader to fine tune his thinkingperfectly envisage the environments and people described.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1524636118</amazonuk>B09N9157T6

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Siri Hustvedt1785633074|title= A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex and the MindStaggering Hubris|author=Josh Berry|rating= 4.5|genre= Politics and Society Humour|summary= I must confess Members of Parliament like us to believe that the country is run by politicians, headed by the Prime minister - the ''primus inter pares'A Woman Looking'(that' spoke to me on a profound, intimate level. This s for those of you who are Eton and Oxbridge educated) but the reality is in part due to that the ''prime'' movers are the special advisers - the apparent similarities between me and Siri Hustvedt SPADS - we are both feminists who love art and also love science in a world which emphasises that these two passions are mutually exclusivethe driving force behind the government. What Hustvedt suggests We are in ''A Woman Looking'' is that it is the similarities between these two areas we should emphasise and that a cohesiveprivileged position of having access to the memoirs of Rafe Hubris, inclusive approach towards art and science could help fill the gaps in both disciplinesman 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. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473638895</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=T J Coles1846276772|title=The Great Brexit SwindleEnd of Bias: Why the Mega-Rich and Free Market Fanatics Conspired to Force Britain from the European UnionHow We Change Our Minds|author=Jessica Nordell|rating=34.5|genre=Business Politics and FinanceSociety|summary=''Have you been mis-sold Brexit by posh men Anyone who is not an able, white man understands bias in sharp suits promising you free healthcare? If so, you might be entitled that they may no longer even recognise the extent to compensation...'' There wasn't much could make me laugh on the morning after the EU referendum but this spoof advert on Twitter managed which they suffer from it. Only, : it seems that it wasn't completely s simply a joke - well apart from part of everyday life. White men will always come first. The able will come before the bit about compensationdisabled. In ''The Great Brexit Scandal'' T J Coles looks at Jobs, promotions, higher salaries are the substantial core preserve of free marketeers in the Conservative party white man. Even when those who were determined to rid wouldn't pass the UK medical become a part of the Brussels red tape which was putting a brake on an organisation it's rare that their activities. You might also know these views as ''neoliberalism''are heard, an ideology which looks to deregulate markets and maximise profitsthat their concerns are acknowledged. On the surface that doesnIt't sound bad, until you realise that s personally appalling and degrading for the benefit will go to individuals on the people who are already in receiving end of the group which Coles refers to as the ''mega-rich'bias but it' and s not just the losers will be working peopleindividuals who are negatively impacted.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905570813</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Erin Moore1529148251|title= That's Not EnglishMisfits: A Personal Manifesto|author=Michaela Coel|rating= 5

|summary=''How am I able to be so transparent on paper about rape, malpractice and poverty, yet still compartmentalise? It's not clear who first coined as though I were telling the expression truth whilst simultaneously running away from it.'' Before you start reading 'divided by a common language'Misfits' about Brits and Americans, but as this highly entertaining book demonstrates, it isn't our language that divides us. On the contrary the language simply reflects the divisions that exist. We tend you need to watch be in a lot certain frame of TV at home, but rarely find anything that totally engrosses usmind. As a result we tend You're not going to talk over read a lot book of TVessays or a self-help book. 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 itYou're going to read writing which was inspired by Michaela Coel's ok for lab techs 2018 MacTaggart Lecture 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 professionals within the television industry at the spread of British English in American Edinburgh TV showsFestival. Erin Moore explains why. Not directly, indeed IYou might be ''reading''m not sure she even makes the connection – book but you need to ''listen'' to the fact that there are a lot more Brits words as though you're in the higher echelons of US TV-making might just explain why CSI, NCIS, Law and Order lecture theatre. The disjointedness will fade away and you'll be carried on a whole host cloud of other shows will slip in words like wallet, handbag, boot (of a car), pavement…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784701912</amazonuk>exquisite writing.

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Chris McIvor0008350388|title=The World is ElsewhereWe Need to Talk About Money|author=Otegha Uwagba

|genre=AutobiographyPolitics and Society|summary=As ''To be a Country Directordark-skinned Black woman is to be seen as less desirable, less hireable, Chris McIvor has worked for less intelligent and ultimately less valuable than my light-skinned counterparts...'' ''We Need to Talk About Money'' by Otegha Uwagba ''0.7% of English Literature GCSE students in England study a book by a number writer of years at Save the Childrencolour while only 7% study a book by a woman. '' ''The World is ElsewhereBookseller'' covers his time there and, his journeys across a number of countries29 June 2021 Otegha Uwagba came to the UK from Kenya when she was five years old. It is a beautiful mix of autobiography Her sisters were seven and travelnine. It also captures his philosophical thoughts on international aidwas her mother who came first, with her father joining them later. He reflects on both the good The family was hard-working, principled and the bad with a very easy, conversational writing style determined that makes their children would have the book truly captivatingbest education possible. I read from cover to cover in There was always a single sitting, unusual for painful awareness of money although this did not translate into a reviewershortage of anything: it was simply carefully harvested. Such When Otegha was ten the draw as he laid himself barefamily acquired a car. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910124346</amazonuk>For Otegha, education meant a scholarship to a private school in London and then a place at New College, Oxford.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author= Anna BikontRichard Brook|title= The Crime and the SilenceUnderstanding Human Nature: A User's Guide to Life|rating= 4.5|genre= HistoryLifestyle|summary= Where was your father? Where was your brotherI am a firm believer that sometimes we choose books, your motherand sometimes books choose us. In my case, your uncle? These are this is one of the questions Anna Bikont struggles to ask during her investigation into a shocking act latter. Not so very long ago, if I had come across this book I'd have skimmed it, found some of violence committed against the Jewish community it interesting, but it would not have 'hit home' in Jedwabne during the summer of 1941way that it does now. The Crime and the Silence weaves together journals, interviews and pictures I believe it came to me not just because I was likely to share the story of give it a community torn apart by hatred and intolerancefavourable review [ ''full disclosure The Bookbag's u.s.p. It is also that people chose their own books rather than getting them randomly, so there is a moving testament predisposition towards expecting to like the dedication of Bikontbook, who documents her struggle even if it doesn't always turn out that way'' ] – but also because it is a book I needed to find the truth with grace and dignity in the face of silence, rationalisation, and even angerread, from members of the Polish community who would rather not stir up the crimes of the pastright now.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0099592525</amazonuk>1800461682

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Kate Harrad1787332098|title=Purple Prose: Bisexuality How to Love Animals in Britaina Human-Shaped World|author=Henry Mance

|summary=Before reading Kate Harrad's thought provoking insight 'When we do think about animals, we break them down into bisexuality in Britain I have to confess to being as guilty of the misconceptions surrounding the subject as everyone else. It is only when you read this collection of essays species and anecdotesgroups: cows, dogs, you realise the prejudice they face foxes, elephants and so on a daily basis. The very nature of bisexuality is widely misunderstood by the heterosexual and gay communities alike. As a result bisexuals find themselves marginalisedAnd we assign them places in society: cows go on plates, dogs on sofas, orfoxes in rubbish bins, elephants in the worst-case scenariozoos, completely ostracised. Far from havingand millions of wild animals stay out there, ''the best of both worldssomewhere,'', they are considered to be sitting hopefully on the fence, unable to come to terms with their true sexualitynext David Attenborough series. ''Purple Prose I was going to argue. I mean, cows are for cheese (I couldn'' tackles these myths and ill-informed ideas head on, t consider eating red meat...) and I much prefer my elephants in the process shows a community wild but then I realised that does have many issues, just not I was quibbling for the ones sake of it. Essentially that are being laid at their door. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0996460160</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Wade Graham|title=Dream Cities: Seven Urban Ideas That Shape the World|rating=4.5|genre= History|summary=Between 1950 quote sums up my attitude to animals - and 2014 the world's urban population increased from 746 million to 3I consider myself an animal lover.9 billion. The urbanising trend is set If I had to continue with choose between the United Nations predicting that by the middle company of humans and the century 66% company of us will be city dwellersanimals, a massive six billion peopleI would probably choose the animals. How have city planners and architects tried I insisted that I read this book: no one was trying to cope with the recent surge? How can they avoid repeating mistakes from the past? Both of those questions are considered in Dream Cities – Seven Urban Ideas That Shape The Worldstop me but I was initially reluctant. I eat cheese, eggs, Wade Graham's excellent field guide chicken and fish and I needed to either do so without guilt or change my choices. I suspected that making the modern worlddecision would not be comfortable. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445659735</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=T J Coles1523092734|title=BritainA Women's Secret WarsGuide to Claiming Space|author=Eliza Van Cort

|summary= Britain's Secret Wars 'She brings a hug-kick-thunderclap that every woman needs in her life. Again and again and again.'' (Alma Derricks, former CMO, Cirque du Soleil RSD) ''To claim space is a chilling to live the life of choosing unapologetically and disturbing book bravely. It is to readlive the life you've always wanted. With all four corners of '' Sometimes the globe hell-bent on conflict, oppression and injustice, our sanitised media portrays Britain, as reviewing gods are generous: at a nationtime when violence against women is much in the news, responding ''A Women's Guide to harrowing global eventsClaiming Space'' by Eliza Van Cort dropped onto my desk. What Now - to be clear - this book is chillingnot a 'how to disable your attacker with two simple jabs' manual: it's something far more effective, in T J Coles book, is but discussion at the moment seems to be about how women can be ''protected''. I've always thought that the political establishmentwomen need to rise above this, through the military and intelligence community appear to be complicit in instigating many of thempeople who don't need protection, people who claim their own space. What is disturbing is If all women did this, those few men who are violent to women would realise that the majority of information he has we are not just an easy target to be used to form his analysis and conclusion is freely available and in the public domainprove that they are big men. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905570783</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Angela LightburnPolly Barton|title=An Annoyance of Neighbours: Life is Never Dull When You Have Neighbours!Fifty Sounds

|summary=You can choose your friends. You canWhere do I start? I could start with where Barton herself starts, with the question ''Why Japan?'' Japan has been on my radar for a while and if the world hadn't choose your relativesgone into melt-down I would have visited by now. I may get there later this year, but you can - usually - put some physical distance between you and themI am not hopeful. And like Barton, but you canI don't choose your neighbours and once youknow the answer to the question 're 'why Japan?'there'' it can be very expensive or even impossible to break She explains her feelings in respect of the question in the link. Nowfirst essay, I canwhich is on the sound ''giro' ''t give you any advice on this thorny subject – which she describes as itbeing, among other things, the sound of 's more than thirty years since I've been in a position to every party where you have anything to complain about, but Angela Lightburn knows all there is to know. Sheintroduce yourself's spent years collating all the different problems which people have with their neighbours and ways of improving the situation which don't involve a lengthy prison sentence.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1785892029</amazonuk>1913097501