Twenty-four books for Winter 2024
Yes, even though the sun is shining, it's winter in the southern hemisphere...
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I’ve always dreamed of owning my own bookshop. A few years ago, I nearly made it happen, but I realised that to keep the doors open, I’d have to sell popular books that aren’t always the best and miss out on stocking the great ones that might not sell as well. So, instead of browsing the physical shelves of ‘Our Long Walk Bookshop’, I present to you the (somewhat eclectic) twenty-four books on display on my virtual front-of-shop bookshelf, arranged chronologically. Each book comes with an AI-generated billboard summary in italics.
The Language Puzzle: Piecing Together the Six-Million-Year Story of How Words Evolved. Steven Mithen. Explore the evolution of language from apelike calls to complex speech, revealing how it shaped human cognition and society.
The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human Origins. Stefanos Geroulanos. Discover how our obsession with prehistory shaped modern worldviews and fueled empires in this groundbreaking analysis.
An Emancipation of the Mind: Radical Philosophy, the War over Slavery, and the Refounding of America. Matthew Stewart. How radical antislavery leaders revived the ideals of equality from the first American Revolution to defeat the slaveholders’ oligarchy.
Capitalism in the Colonies: African Merchants in Lagos, 1851–1931. A. G. Hopkins. Discover how African entrepreneurs in colonial Lagos drove Nigeria’s economic development through innovation and capitalism.
Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World. Marc-William Palen. Discover the left-wing origins of free trade and globalisation, promoting peace and prosperity against nationalism and imperialism.
One From the Many: The Global Economy Since 1850. Christopher M. Meissner. Despite recent doubts, the long history of economic integration shows that globalization is here to stay.
Prisoners of Jan Smuts: Italian Prisoners of War in South Africa in WWII. Karen Horn. Discover the fascinating stories of Italian POWs in South Africa during WWII, their survival, escapes, and enduring legacies.
Rebellion, Rascals, and Revenue: Tax Follies and Wisdom through the Ages. Michael Keen and Joel Slemrod. Explore the fascinating history of taxation, from absurd failures to surprising successes, and discover timeless lessons for today’s tax challenges.
Breaking the Mold: India’s Untraveled Path to Prosperity. Raghuram G. Rajan and Rohit Lamba. India’s future depends on developing its economy, supporting its population, and staying democratic by prioritising human capital, high-skilled services, and entrepreneurship.
Women Money Power: The Rise and Fall of Economic Equality. Josie Cox. For centuries, women fought against financial inequality, and their battle for equal money and power continues today.
Unexpected Revolutionaries: How Central Banks Made and Unmade Economic Orthodoxy. Manuela Moschella. Discover how central banks transformed from conservative institutions to political actors using unconventional policies to address inequality and climate change.
The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers. Zeke Hernandez. Discover the truth: Immigration boosts jobs, innovation, and cultural vitality, debunking myths of threat and burden.
The Curious Culture of Economic Theory. Ran Spiegler. Explore the professional culture and key elements of contemporary economic theory through incisive essays on successful theoretical developments of the past 25 years.
How Nations Escape Poverty: Vietnam, Poland, and the Origins of Prosperity. Rainer Zitelmann. Learn how economic freedom transformed Vietnam and Poland from poverty to prosperity, proving Adam Smith’s timeless principles.
Whites and Democracy in South Africa. Roger Southall. Explore how white South Africans have adapted to democracy since 1994, from resistance and withdrawal to active engagement and acceptance.
The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society. Joseph E. Stiglitz. Unmasking false freedom: Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz reveals how exploitation masquerades as liberty and calls for a reimagined, equitable economic system.
Deals: The Economic Structure of Business Transactions. Michael Klausner and Guhan Subramanian. Maximize value in business deals by mastering negotiation, incentives, and contract design, illustrated with real-world case studies.
Getting Monetary Policy Back on Track. Michael D. Bordo, John H. Cochrane and John B. Taylor (editors). Top experts debate the Fed’s response to inflation, monetary policy, and financial regulation at the 2023 Hoover Institution Monetary Policy Conference.
The Divine Economy: How Religions Compete for Wealth, Power, and People. Paul Seabright. Discover how modern religious movements operate like businesses, offering both support and risk, and explore how religion and secular society can collaborate for a better future.
Everything Is Predictable: How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World. Tom Chivers. Discover how Bayes's theorem, uncovered by an 18th-century minister, impacts medicine, law, AI, and our understanding of probability in everyday life.
The Management of Innovation: Managing and Creating Technology Capital. Alberto Galasso. Unlock the secrets of innovation: Master technology management and creation to drive growth and avoid costly mistakes.
The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets. Thomas R. Cech. Discover how RNA, once seen as DNA’s assistant, is now key to understanding life, health, and groundbreaking biotechnologies.
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI. Ethan Mollick. Discover how AI is transforming our world, urging us to collaborate with intelligent machines for a better future.
Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World. Nick Bostrom. Imagine a future where AI solves all practical needs: Deep Utopia explores the profound philosophical and spiritual questions of a post-labour world.
‘Twenty-four books for Winter 2024’ was first published on Our Long Walk. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The image was created with Midjourney v6.