How the world turned global
Jonathan Sperber’s The Age of Interconnection surveys the second half of the 20th century but fails to explain the ideas…
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Discover the latest non-fiction books and must-reads with the New Statesman’s expert reviews. Including biographies, music books, political writing and more.
Nietzsche, narwhals and the burden of consciousness
Justin Gregg’s witty exploration of animal intelligence is a useful guide – but there is more to human life than…
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The meaning of Tyson Fury
He survived addiction and a suicide attempt to return to victory in the ring. Now the philosopher-fighter considers the “void”…
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What cells tell us about life
Siddharta Mukherjee’s new study of how cells work reveals the complexities of the human body – and the science that…
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Britain’s empire of science
How the Victorians bequeathed us their ideology of technoscientific progress.
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The Light We Carry: Michelle Obama’s self-help slogans
In converting her life story into self-empowering bromides, the former first lady has exposed the limits of her politics.
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The radical bookshops shaping Britain’s literary culture
Today’s indie bookshops are as influential in stirring up political and cultural life as those of the 1960s.
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Death by PowerPoint: the global influence of McKinsey
A new book connects the consultancy firm to a series of social and economic crises. But how culpable is a…
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What our homes reveal about ourselves
Living Rooms explores what domestic spaces say about class and belonging, from chintz to cleanfluencers.
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How political failures led to the Grenfell Tower fire
Peter Apps’s book, Show Me the Bodies, forensically uncovers the truth about the disaster that killed 72 people in 2017.
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The Mark Fisher generation
In 2009 Capitalist Realism sought to upend the status quo. As political paralysis returns, its message is as urgent as…
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Mary Lou McDonald: behind the respectable face of Sinn Féin
A new biography charts the rapid political rise – and moral compromises – of Sinn Féin’s leader.
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The tragedy of English football
The miracle of 1966 aside, Paul Hayward’s “biography” of England’s national team is a story of sorry failure.
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Chelsea Manning and the price of knowledge
The whistleblower’s harrowing memoir of her clash with the US military shows that information does not necessarily effect change.
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The dark side of DNA editing
Genetic engineering can lead to great medical advances but, as Matthew Cobb’s new book shows, it also brings alarming ethical…
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Decoding Adam Smith
A new history of The Wealth of Nations shows how the Scottish thinker’s legacy became an economic battleground.
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Surrender: praying in the church of Bono
In his account of being “saved” by love and religion, the U2 frontman’s sincerity overpowers the scorn of his critics.
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A new age of climate migration
In Nomad Century, Gaia Vince argues we must prepare now for environmental migration on an unprecedented scale.
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The women who made TS Eliot
Accounts of the poet’s brutal rejections of Mary Trevelyan and Emily Hale shed light on a man obsessed by posterity…
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How Donald Trump rose to power
Maggie Haberman’s Confidence Man is the best account yet of Trump’s path to the presidency – and a crucial guide…
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