January 2014

A hugely informative book on the world’s mysteries from journalist and parliamentary sketch writer Simon Hoggart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Hoggart and http://www.theguardian.com/profile/simonhoggart). From fire walking to the prophesies of Nostradamus, this pares the fiction from many popular theories, and urges us to educate ourselves through critical inquiry. Jeane Dixon claims she predicted the assassination of President Kennedy, and to

Studs Turkel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studs_Turkel) offers this invaluable sociological work from 1972 documenting the working lives of ordinary Americans. It is an exploration of what makes work meaningful for people in all walks of life: from Lovin’ Al the parking valet, to Dolores the waitress, from the fireman to the business executive, the narratives move constantly between mundane details, emotional

Echoing Edward Said’s belief that ‘Western humanism is not enough, we need a universal humanism’, the renowned critic Clive James (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_James and http://www.clivejames.com/) presents here his life’s work. Containing over one hundred original essays, organized by quotations from A to Z, Cultural Amnesia (2007) illuminates, rescues, or occasionally destroys the careers of many of the greatest thinkers,

The World Until Yesterday (2012) is a visionary new account of humanity’s past from Jared Diamond (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Diamond), author of the international bestsellers Collapse (2005) and Guns, Germs and Steel (1997), which have sold over 1 million copies and won the Pulitzer Prize. Indeed, anything by Diamond is worth reading and this is no exception. In The World

There are some pretty crude notions washing around in the Western world such as ‘science has debunked religion’. Rather than dying away, religion seems more resurgent than ever (especially, it is interesting to note, in the most technologically powerful nation on Earth). On the other hand the vast majority are woefully ignorant about the power and

There is currently an epidemic of ‘affluenza’ throughout the world – an obsessive, envious, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses – that has resulted in huge increases in depression and anxiety among millions. Over a nine-month period, bestselling author Oliver James (http://www.selfishcapitalist.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_James_(psychologist)) travelled around the world to try and find out why. The author discovered how, despite very different cultures

Here is a fact that may or may not make you choke on your cornflakes, especially if you’ve bought them from ASDA (owned by Walmart). At the time of writing the Walton family, owners of Walmart, have a combined wealth greater than that of the total of the 40% poorest of Americans !!!!!!. You may