EGGHEAD CHOICE – Crack open for a hard boiled think

In this book from 1961 Lewis Mumford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Mumford) argues for a world not in which technology reigns, but rather in which it achieves a balance with nature. His ideal vision is what can be described as an ‘organic city’, where culture is not usurped by technological innovation but rather thrives with it. Mumford contrasts these cities with […]

No Logo (1999) by Naomi Klein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Klein and http://www.naomiklein.org/main) employs journalistic savvy and personal testament to detail the insidious practices and far-reaching effects of corporate marketing. It also looks at the powerful potential of a growing activist sect that may alter the course of the 21st century. First published before the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, this is an infuriating, inspiring,

Barely two hundred and fifty years ago a man condemned of attempting to assassinate the King of France was drawn and quartered in a grisly spectacle that suggested an unmediated duel between the violence of the criminal and the violence of the state. This groundbreaking book by the most influential French philosopher since Sartre compels us

Hidden Agendas (1998) is one of John Pilger’s (http://johnpilger.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pilger) most substantial and challenging books. It strips away the layers of deception, dissembling language and omission that prevent us from understanding how the world really works. From the invisible corners of Tony Blair’s New Britain to Burma, Vietnam, Australia and South Africa, Pilger unravels the

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