politics and news
empire of pain. by patrick radden keefe. double day; 560 pages; $32.50. picador; £20
this is the tragic and maddening story of the sadler family, the formerly low-key owners of purdue pharma, who in 1996 introduced the drug oxycontin. the author shows how an epidemic of prescription opioid abuse morphed into a worse one of illicit heroin and, later, fentanyl.
You are reading: Economist books of the year
do not disturb. by michela mal. public affairs; 512 pages; $32. fourth state; £20
A devastating expose of a remarkable leader, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. he won worldwide praise for ending the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and promoting development. but his regime ruled through fear, invaded his neighbors and killed opponents even after they fled abroad. the author, a former fan, spent years gathering evidence for this terrifying tale.
invisible porcelain. by scott rozelle and natalie hell. chicago university press; 248 pages; $27.50 and £22
The biggest obstacle to China’s development is that children in rural areas, two-thirds of the total, do terrible in school, argues this amazingly researched book. many are malnourished, lack reading glasses, or suffer from intestinal worms that rob them of energy. If these basic problems are not addressed, the authors say, China will struggle to achieve its goal of broad prosperity.
the sexual life of African women. by nana darkoa sekyiamah. dialogue books; 304 pages; £18.99. to be published in america by astra house in march; $28
a Ghanaian feminist and activist tells stories of sexual freedom and relationships. mostly told pseudonymously, they are moving, joyous, challenging, and honest.
red roulette. by desmond shum. notary; 320 pages; $30 and £20
An extraordinary behind-the-scenes look at the nexus between business and politics in China from a former insider, combining explosive revelations with dirty details of elite life. the well-born are shielded from the worst effects of anti-corruption investigations, the author charges: “the red aristocrats received a prison sentence; the commoners took a bullet to the head.”
how the word is passed. by clint smith. little, brown; 352 pages; $29. dialogue books; £20
By combining investigative journalism with historical insights and poetic description, the author turns a complex and traumatic subject, racism and the legacy of slavery in America, into a beautiful, insightful, and even enjoyable journey.
we are bellingcat. by eliot higgins. Bloomsbury Publishing; 221 pages; $28 and £20
how did a group of self-taught internet sleuths help solve some of the biggest crimes in recent years, like the downing of flight mh17 over ukraine and the salisbury poisonings? bellingcat’s founder chronicles some of the team’s investigations and their efforts to empower citizen journalists, expose war crimes, and debunk disinformation. an antidote to cybermiserabilism.
story
the gun, the ship and the pen. by cute colley. liveright; 512 pages; $35. profile books; £25
a comprehensive description of the forces that drove the writing of constitutions (documents that have defined the modern world) from the 18th century to the present. the trend was driven by the evolving nature of warfare and fueled by high-speed printing presses. an illuminating and original global story.
tunnel 29. by helena merriman. public affairs; 352 pages; $28. hodder & stoughton; £20
Using a narrow 120-meter tunnel under the wall that had recently divided their city, 29 East Berliners escaped to freedom in September 1962. >
cuba: an american history. by ada ferrer. notary; 576 pages; $32
The idea of putting the United States at the center of Cuban history is not surprising, but this fascinating book shows just how intertwined the two countries have been. The United States was dominant from the beginning, but today it has the opportunity to show that it is a friend of the island’s progress.
the Greek revolution. by mark mazower. penguin press; 608 pages; $35. allen rail; £30 an elegant and rigorous account of the Greek uprising against Ottoman rule 200 years ago, events that he argues helped shape modern Europe. The episode also contains lessons on the galvanizing effects of violence, the role of foreign intervention, and design flaws in dreams.
biography and memoirs
autumn. by john preston. hapercollins; 352 pages; $28.99. viking; £18.99
the story of robert maxwell, a monstrous, enigmatic, stalker and narcissistic thief with gigantic appetites, who in his heyday was one of the world’s most recognizable businessmen, may be largely unknown to anyone under 40 years. This book is told with great enthusiasm and the benefit of extensive interviews with, among others, Maxwell’s old rival, Rupert Murdoch.
the radical potter. by tristram hunt. metropolitan books; 352 pages; $29.99. allen rail; £25
josiah wedgwood wanted to “shock the world”. he did it, says this charming biography of the 18th-century British potter. To increase productivity, he intended to make men’s machines, and he did.
There is nothing here for you. by fiona hill. seafaring books; 432 pages; $30
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an account of how the daughter of an english miner became the top adviser on european and russian affairs on donald trump’s national security council. She draws insightful comparisons between the post-industrial plague of her childhood and the deprived areas of Russia and the United States, and between the Kremlin’s destruction of democracy and the dangers she faces in America.
all the common problems of our days. by rebecca donner. little, brown; 576 pages; $32. canongate; £16.99
A feat of historical excavation that tells the inspiring story of the author’s great-aunt, Mildred Harnack. A quiet English teacher from Wisconsin, Harnack ended up leading one of the most important resistance cells in WWII Berlin, before being betrayed and executed.
the last king of america. by andrew roberts. viking; 784 pages; $40 Published in Britain as “George III: The Life and Reign of Britain’s Most Misunderstood Monarch”; allen rail; £35
a strong Tory defense of a much misunderstood king, based largely on previously unpublished correspondence. Far from being a crazed tyrant who deservedly lost the American colonies, George, it is argued, was an honorable follower of protocol who abided by the rules and worked hard to support and even strengthen Britain’s parliamentary democracy and further its interests.
all included. by billie jean king. I touched; 496 pages; $30 Viking; £20 True to its title, this autobiography is bracingly sincere. The author describes her battles on the tennis court (she won six Wimbledon singles and 14 doubles championships in one of the greatest sports careers of the 20th century), as well as her struggles with sexism and prejudice. /p>
culture and ideas
god: an anatomy. by Francesca Stavrakopoulou. picador; 608 pages; £25. to be published in america by knopf in January; $35
A theologian presents the Judeo-Christian god as few have seen him before. Placing it in the context of other Southwest Asian deities, she leads a learned yet playful journey through every aspect of Yahweh’s body. a book that will offend some but delight many more.
the sinner and the saint. by kevin birmingham. penguin press; 432 pages; $30 allen drive; £25
Like Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Pierre-François Lacenaire had literary aspirations, served in the army, and gambled recklessly. both flirted with radical politics; they both went to prison. Dostoyevsky eventually wrote “Crime and Punishment,” based in part on the murders committed by Lacenaire in 1834. This book places his connection in the stew of mid-19th-century ideology.
fallen idols. by alex von tunzelmann. harpist; 320 pages; $26.99. headline; £20
from george iii to saddam hussein, from india to the dominican republic, this account of the fates of the controversial statues (abandoned, destroyed, moved, and variously rebuilt) offers insight into the times and places they were erected and removed below. the statues simplify the story, says the author; what is really educational are the discussions they provoke.
the barca. by simon kuper. short books; 352 pages; £20
This analysis of how modern football megaclubs are run (and how they are poorly run), by a financial times columnist and lifelong fan of barcelona, may be one of the most forensic books on the football industry ever written. thoughtful and dramatic.
the twelve lives of alfred hitchcock. by edward white. ww norton; 400 pages; $28.95 and £22.99
an invigorating and original study of the master of suspense. covers his mistreatment of female stars and his admiration for cary grant: “an avatar for an inner hitchcock who couldn’t express himself outwardly.”
fiction
mother for dinner. by shalom auslander. riverhead books; 272 pages; $28. picador; £16.99
In this seriously serious and funny satire on identity politics, a mother’s deathbed presents a solemn decision: eat it or not. the family are cannibal-Americans, the most reviled minority in a place where “everyone else retreated to their cages and called it freedom.” What, the novel cries out, do individuals owe to history?
the books of jacob. by olga tokarczuk. Translated by Jennifer Croft. fitzcarraldo editions; 928 pages; £20. to be published in america by riverhead books in february; $35
The tome that secured its author the 2018 Nobel Prize encompasses a “fantastic journey across seven borders, five languages, and three major religions, not counting minor sects.” At the center of this epic of faith, ideas, and enlightenment is a real-life 18th-century mystic.
the plot. by jean hanff korelitz. celadon books; 317 pages; $28. faber; £8.99
there are too many novels about writers, but this is one to read. A down-on-his-luck author steals a cool plot from a creepy student. the result is wealth, fame, and spiraling disaster. at once a near-core satire on publishing, an investigation into the ethics of storytelling, and a propulsive deluxe thriller.
great circle. by maggie shipstead. I touched; 608 pages; $28.95. double day; £16.99
A sweeping saga that alternates between the life of a tenacious aviator in the 1930s and that of a millennial movie star chosen to play her in a biopic. in death, “each of us destroys the world,” observes the author, but her gripping novel is a poignant reflection of the will to survive.
klara and the sun. by kazuo ishiguro. I touched; 320 pages; $28. faber; £20
The author’s first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in 2017 is a coming-of-age drama in which wealthy parents buy sophisticated androids as companionship for their children. Along with futuristic speculation, this is a satire on aspirational parenthood. issues of faith and mortality are mixed with stories involving children’s problems and conflicts between mother and daughter.
the promise. by damon galgut. europe editions; 256 pages; $25 chatto & wind; £16.99
Four funerals mark the passage of time in this profound story of an unhappy white South African family coming to terms with the end of apartheid. Booker’s winning novel is also a meditation on home and inheritance in the “bride head review” and “howard’s ending” tradition.
detransition, honey. by torrey peters. a world; 352 pages; $27. snake tail; £14.99
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three characters, a trans woman, a cis woman and a man who has recently lost the transition after a brief period of life as a woman, decide to raise a child together. what follows is an intense and tense exploration of identity and what it means to be a woman and a father, wrapped up in a more playful, sometimes hilarious narrative.
chronicles of the land of the happiest people on earth. by wole soyinka. Pantheon; 464 pages; $28. bloomsbury circus; £20
The Nobel Prize-winning playwright’s first work of fiction in 50 years is both a sophisticated thriller and an indictment of Nigeria’s political class. the narrator is a doctor who discovers that a trade in human body parts is being carried out from his hospital. “something is broken”, laments a character. “beyond race. exterior color or history. something is broken.”
economy and business
the world for sale. by javier blas and jack farchy. Oxford University Press; 416 pages; $29.95. random home business; £20
The story of how a few commodity trading companies quietly reshaped the global economy, making fortunes, juggling embargoes and changing geopolitics. Unscrupulous operators like Marc Rich (who spent two decades on the run from American justice) became global power players as intermediaries between resource-rich autocrats and their clients.
career and family. by claudia goldin. princeton university press; 344 pages; $27.95 and £22
An economist documents the typical life experiences of five generations of college-educated American women as they trade jobs and families. the current gender pay gap, she argues, is primarily the result of couples making a rational decision about how to maximize household income, prioritizing a well-paying career. provocative and compelling.
the future of money. by eswar prasad. belknap press; 496 pages; $35 and £28.95
The digitization of finance has huge implications, and as it loses its physical form, the meaning of money will become increasingly difficult to understand. this nuanced book explores the effects of turmoil.
the power of creative destruction. by philippe aghion, céline antonin and simon bunel. translated by jodie cohen-tanugi. belknap press; 400 pages; $35 and £28.95
an application of joseph schumpeter’s most powerful idea, valuing innovation as the engine of progress, to contemporary economic debates. the result is overwhelming, authoritative and, for the time, surprisingly optimistic.
the history of work. by jan lucassen. yale university press; 544 pages; $30 and £25
Starting in the hunting and gathering past, this long-term view of the work shows how little has changed over the millennia. progressing through the rise of cities, wages, and labor markets, it traces a perennial cycle of injustice and resistance, and the age-old desire for more.
the point man. by simon clark and will louch. harper business; 352 pages; $29.99. penguin business; £20
As a director of the abraaj group, a private equity firm that preached profit with a purpose, arif naqvi became a darling of investors, but then collapsed. the gripping story of the alleged perpetrator of one of the biggest corporate frauds in history.
science and technology
an opportunity to save the world. by gregorio zuckerman. briefcase; 384 pages; $30 penguin business; £20
a reporter from the wall street journal tells the story of the great vaccine race of 2020. a magnificent scientific drama of failure, determination and triumph.
me, war robot. by kenneth payne. Oxford University Press; 336 pages; $29.95. hurt; £20
a reflection that invites reflection on how artificial intelligence will change conflicts. the offense will dominate, says the author. martial virtues such as courage and leadership will give way to techniques.
being you. by anil seth. dutton books; 352 pages; $28. faber; £20
Understanding consciousness is a “difficult problem,” noted philosopher David Chalmers. here, a pioneering neuroscientist takes readers to the edge of what is known, how scientists know it, and more importantly, how that knowledge could be useful in medicine and psychology.
the genetic lottery. by kathryn paige harden. princeton university press; 312 pages; $29.95 and £25
Genes matter, says this study on their relationship with life chances. but people are no more responsible for them than for the circumstances of their birth. therefore, the state should improve genetic inequalities as well as those of upbringing. a clear case on a complex topic.
water: a biography. by giulio boccaletti. Pantheon; 400 pages; $30 and £22.50
Water moves, and until about 10,000 years ago, people moved with it, following the green flow of rainy season growth and grazing herds. then came agriculture, irrigation, ever-expanding settlements, and the need for rules and institutions to manage water resources. Humanity’s intensely political relationship with water is the foundation of civilization, this rich and engaging story argues. ■
see also:the best books of 2020the best books of 2019
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