Islam is the engine of world history
The religion may have transformed every corner of the globe, but it was also radically changed in the process
ByNon-fiction
Discover the latest non-fiction books and must-reads with the New Statesman’s expert reviews. Including biographies, music books, political writing and more.
The interwar years were as bewildering as the present
Alwyn Turner’s new history reassures us that the past is not, as many imagine, any cosier or more patriotic than…
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The best non-fiction to read this year
From memoirs by politicians to biographies of poets, this will be a year in which life-writing abounds
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Recovering the lost history of Gaza
Decades of conflict and displacement have obliterated the history of one of the world’s oldest human settlements
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How not to talk about capitalism
The more it penetrates our daily lives, the less we seem to understand the “system that runs the world”
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Inside the mind of Luigi Mangione
A biography of the man on trial for anti-corporate murder seeks to disrupt the hero narrative that has grown around…
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Life lessons from Beijing’s courier grind
In I Deliver Parcels in Beijing, Hu Anyan reflects on the ways work divides and controls both our lives and…
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Margaret Atwood is nobody’s handmaid
The Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts reveals a writer who, despite her success, can’t let go of criticism…
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How to fix the internet: break the oligarchy
Two new books trace the decline of the global online public square – and its replacement by a machine for…
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Cameron Crowe’s endless adolescence
In his memoir The Uncool, the rock-critic-turned-filmmaker explores his lifelong fascination with the American teen experience
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Who killed the social housing dream?
A new history of Britain’s tower blocks reveals the ways architecture and ideology have combined to ensure residents are always…
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Martin Scorsese, priest of the silver screen
In his youth, the great auteur wanted to join the Church – but he practised his faith better from the…
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All your data belongs to us: the rise of Palantir
A biography of the tech company’s founder Alex Karp reveals the philosophy behind its troubling conquest of the world
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Big tech’s futile attempt to kill death
Silicon Valley is pursuing immortality with religious zeal – but what’s the point?
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Rewilding Rory Stewart
Deeply rooted in the landscape of the Borders, The Rest Is Politics co-host is a rural romantic at heart
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The guru of the AI apocalypse
Eliezer Yudkowsky is confusing a very human obsession with death and a very modern fear of a techno-deity
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Britain’s Fawlty state of mind
Fifty years after it was first aired, Fawlty Towers now looks ahead of its time
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Surviving 491 days in Hamas captivity
Eli Sharabi’s agonising memoir explores how the world nearly forgot the Gaza hostages
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Andrew O’Hagan’s ode to friendship
In his memoir/manifesto, the author suggests the close relationships we make with peers shape our lives
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The World Cup in the age of extremes
Next year’s edition, to be held in Donald Trump’s America, will only be the latest in a long history of…
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