Social classes Books

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe power of her historical insights and the sweetness of her dream cannot be denied * The New York Times *

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Book Synopsis''Moving, atmospheric, truthful, perceptive and hilariously funny - I loved it: a piece of our English history, the story of a vanished time, which feels close at hand but thoroughly gone. What a story. What a great story'' TESSA HADLEYIn Homework, Geoff Dyer reflects on his childhood and what it means to come of age in England in the 60s and 70s, in a country shaped by the aftermath of the Second World War but accelerating towards change. He was born in Cheltenham in the late fifties, the only child of a dinner lady and a planning engineer. Raised in a working-class area, Geoff and his mates found much joy recreating battles with their beloved Tommy guns, kicking a beachball around until its untimely death, and collecting anything and everything they could find; football cards, conkers and Action Man figures. When Geoff passes his 11-plus exams he gets in to a Cheltenham Grammar School, a school which drastically changes the trajectory of his life.

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Book SynopsisAn insidious snobbery has taken root in parts of progressive Britain. Working-class voters have flexed their political muscles and helped to change the direction of the country, but in doing so they have been met with disdain and even abuse from elites in politics, culture and business. They have been derided as uneducated, bigoted turkeys voting for Christmas, as Empire apologists patriotic to the point of delusion. At election time, we hear a lot about 'levelling up the Red Wall'. But when the votes have been counted, what can actually be done to meet the very real concerns of the 'left behind' in the UK's post-industrial towns? In these once vibrant hubs of progress, working-class voters now face the prospect of being minimised or ridiculed in cultural life, economically marginalised and abandoned educationally. In this rousing polemic, David Skelton explores the roots and reality of this new snobbery, calling for an end to the divisive culture war and the creation of a new politics of the common good, empowering workers, remaking the economy and placing communities centre stage. Above all, he argues that we now have a once-in-a-century opportunity to bring about permanent change.Trade Review"David Skelton is, once again, excellent. For those baffled by the new snobbery - the disdain directed towards working-class people for daring to think for themselves or for wanting a better future for their families and local communities - this brilliant book is essential reading." - Nick Timothy, former Downing Street chief of staff, Daily Telegraph columnist and author of Remaking One Nation: The Future of Conservatism "Insightful and informative, The New Snobbery is a must-read for anyone aiming to understand the politics of the 2020s." - Nadhim Zahawi MP "If you want to understand why Labour's Red Wall crumbled and why the Conservatives are not only winning but changing, read this thoughtful book by one of our most prescient and empathetic social and political writers. Highly recommended." - Jason Cowley, editor-in-chief, New Statesman "For many years David Skelton has been a political pioneer in his attempts to develop a distinct 'blue-collar' conservatism. In recent times, with talk of 'levelling up', his party has moved decisively in his direction. In this vital book Skelton urges them to complete the journey by embracing a new pro-worker settlement: one built around dignified and fulfilling work, which renews our vocations, empowers and rewards workers and strengthens their voices and communities. He makes a compelling case, not just in terms of political calculation but in the name of justice. I don't know if the Tories will listen to and embrace Skelton's ideas, but if they do, my party should really start to worry." - Jon Cruddas Labour MP and author of The Dignity of Labour "David Skelton writes with passion and perception about the fear and loathing that progressives feel for the working class." - Maurice Glasman, Labour life peer and director of the Common Good Foundation

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Book Synopsis*RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK* SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE THE JHALAK PRIZE THE BREAD AND ROSES AWARD & LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING ''This is the book I''ve been waiting for - for years. It''s personal, historical, political, and it speaks to where we are now'' Benjamin Zephaniah''I recommend Natives to everyone'' Candice Carty-WilliamsFrom the first time he was stopped and searched as a child, to the day he realised his mum was white, to his first encounters with racist teachers - race and class have shaped Akala''s life and outlook. In this unique book he takes his own experiences and widens them out to look at the social, historical and political factors that have left us where we are today.Covering everything from the police, education and identity to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, Natives speaks directly to British deTrade ReviewMy book of the year. It's personal, historical, political, and it speaks to where we are now. This is the book I've been waiting for - for years * Benjamin Zephaniah *I recommend Natives to everyone * Candice Carty-Williams, author of QUEENIE *Part biography, part polemic, this powerful, wide-ranging study picks apart the British myth of meritocracy -- David Olusoga * Guardian *Akala is at his best destroying the comfortable myths that are invoked by white fragility to downplay attempts to correct the historical record ... Akala makes it clear that he is not brimming with optimism. But reading Natives - witnessing the kind of disruptive, aggressive intellect that a new generation is closely watching - I can't help but be just that -- Afua Hirsch * Observer *What I love about this book is it's kind of like a testimony, a story of contemporary London. He is like one of the Baldwins or Hooks of our generation, who walks among us, you know? When he theorises, it's from a place of knowing rather than some distant place up above . . . He is very good at remembering and honouring the experiences that have shaped him, and he applies it in a very real way -- Madani Younis * Guardian *He is acute on how ideas of race served British global power over centuries, and on the violence at the heart of the imperial project * Guardian *Bracing, illuminating and often discomfiting, an urgent (for many, necessary) polemic - as its near 100% review rating attests * Sunday Times *In his lucid, wide-ranging Natives the rapper Akala shows how race, class and the legacies of empire shape life in Britain today . . . Akala's study interweaves sociological analysis with memoir. Half-Scottish and half-Jamaican by heritage, he challenges cultural assumptions and highlights their consequences, is trenchant about structures of disadvantage, and is discouraging, in the end, about the future * TLS *A potent combination of autobiography and political history which holds up a mirror to contemporary Britain * Independent *One of the most thoughtful books of the past year * Evening Standard *A history lesson of the kind you should get in school but don't ... This is a searing, thought-provoking book * Stylist *Walking us through his childhood experiences, from racist teachers to being stopped and searched by the police, Akala eloquently explains how Britain is in denial about its own history and the legacy of its empire. This phenomenal book guides us through police brutality, the education system and the rise of the far-right in a country that refuses to accept its own reality -- Diyora Shadijanova * The Independent *Akala argues with gripping clarity . . . He's trenchant and highly persuasive * Metro *He is an extremely articulate and intelligent human being, with a great command of the English language . . . I don't think he has any formal degrees but his knowledge is knowledge that he has gone out and sought, he has gone across the country and he lectures and speaks at the top universities. What I like about him is that he is eloquent and knowledgeable about a lot of the issues I am interested in - so racism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, class structure in society, imperialism, post-imperialism and all those kind of things that he is so sharp on. His most recent book, Natives, takes in a lot of those issues and he uses his life as an example of how these different -isms interact. * Maro Itoje, THE SUNDAY TIMES *Akala's singular voice speaks to us with deep wisdom about the past, righteous anger about the present, and stubborn hope about the future. He is a radical for our times. A book bristling with intelligence and insight * Irish Times *An urgent, profound and accessible book. Akala weaves the elements of this wide-ranging book into an engaging, angry, and often funny account that should be pressed into everyone's hands: a personal story, compellingly told, and a devastating analysis of race and class prejudice in our society. Akala is an incredible writer, and this is an important book.Natives is ideal for anyone who is unaware of how institutions like the police and education consistently fail young black people, particularly from working class backgrounds * Evening Standard *In personalised chapters covering the police, education and identity, politics, sexual objectification and the far right, he confronts the issues of race and class at the heart of the legacy of Britain's racialised empire in this fierce and articulate polemic. * The Bookseller *There are lucid, well-cited and sharply argued passages ... which should probably be extracts on the national curriculum * Vice *An essential voice in Britain's debate on race, class and identity * New Humanist *Fantastic * Novaramedia *Blistering * Lacuna *In many ways, Natives is as thorough a dissection of British racial relations as any you're likely to find . . . But it's also a vivid memoir on his own experiences of racism * The Skinny *Akala makes us quietly aware of how much we have left to learn about the world . . . He doesn't shy away from uncomfortable truths backed up with hard facts, which make you sit up and pay attention * Oxford Times *An eminently readable account of what it means to be mixed race in Britain today, and the long-lasting legacies of colonialism. If that all sounds a little heavy for summer, Akala's sardonically droll writing leavens the subject without diminishing its impact * OX Magazine *a book that fulfils the mantra of 'the personal is political' to illuminate both the challenges of, and oppositions to, racism . . . a series of essays, some personal, others political, yet one never divorced from the other * Philosophy Football *A fiercely honest appraisal of growing up poor and mixed race in broken Britain. This heartfelt polemic fights every excuse of racial ignorance * DJ Mag *An engaged and nuanced exploration of the complex interplay between race and class * Morning Star *Vital * Blouin Art Info *Even the guy behind the uni coffee shop counter can't help tiptoeing over to say how much he loves Akala's "outlook on life", now immortalised in print as Natives * Q Magazine *Powerful ... impressive in its historical sweep, mapping the construction of racial identity onto the growth of empire and capitalism [and] full of nuanced cultural critique * The List *A thoughtful history of racism and British views of empire . . . relevant and useful. * Stuff NZ *Akala approaches issues of race and culture with a rare clarity * Otago Daily Times *Breaks down centuries of colonisation, classism, racism and almost every aspect of British society in a disarmingly accessible way. His language is clear and concise, and like the best writers, he challenges assumptions while building comprehension. * The Spinoff *An astounding and brilliant book about black identity * Herald *Engages with students on their level and should be an essential part of rebalanced courses...it's important that there is a text out there that promises light at the end of the tunnel. * The Guardian *Akala draws back the curtain on parts of the empire that it would rather not see, with insights that throw our current position into sharp relief. Illuminating. * The Observer **Number 5/92 of the best books to read right now*. Natives is a book everyone needs to read... It is both personal and political and absolutely necessary reading. * GQ Magazine *A recent book I've loved. He has an ability to understand, convey and articulate big ideas and be respected. He's really making a difference. * The Observer *

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Book SynopsisIn modern Britain, the working class has become an object of fear and ridicule. From Little Britain's Vicky Pollard to the demonization of Jade Goody, media and politicians alike dismiss as feckless, criminalized and ignorant a vast, underprivileged swathe of society whose members have become stereotyped by one, hate-filled word: chavs.In this acclaimed investigation, Owen Jones explores how the working class has gone from "salt of the earth" to "scum of the earth." Exposing the ignorance and prejudice at the heart of the chav caricature, he portrays a far more complex reality. The chav stereotype, he argues, is used by governments as a convenient figleaf to avoid genuine engagement with social and economic problems and to justify widening inequality. Based on a wealth of original research, Chavs is a damning indictment of the media and political establishment and an illuminating, disturbing portrait of inequality and class hatred in modern Britain. This updated edition includes a new chapter exploring the causes and consequences of the UK riots in the summer of 2011.Trade Review“A passionate and well-documented denunciation of the upper-class contempt for the proles that has recently become so visible in the British class system.”—Eric Hobsbawm, Guardian“A work of passion, sympathy and moral grace.”—Dwight Garner, New York Times“A bold attempt to rewind political orthodoxies; to reintroduce class as a political variable ... It moves in and out of postwar British history with great agility, weaving together complex questions of class, culture and identity with a lightness of touch. Jones torches the political class to great effect.”—Jon Cruddas, Book of the Week, Independent“It is a timely book. The white working class seems to be the one group in society that it is still acceptable to sneer at, ridicule, even incite hatred against ... Forensically ... Jones seeks to explain how, thanks to politics, the working class has shifted from being regarded as ‘the salt of the earth to the scum of the earth.’”—Carol Midgley, Book of the Week, Times“Superb and angry.”—Polly Toynbee, Guardian“Seen in the light of the riots and the worldwide Occupy protests, his lucid analysis of a divided society appears uncannily prescient.”—Matthew Higgs, Artforum“As with all the best polemics, a luminous anger backlights his prose.”—Economist“Chavs is persuasively argued, and packed full of good reporting and useful information ... [Jones] makes an important contribution to a revivified debate about class.”—Lynsey Hanley, Guardian“A lively, well-reasoned and informative counterblast to the notion that Britain is now more or less a classless society.”—Sean O'Hagan, Observer“A trenchant exposure of our new class hatred and what lies behind it.”—John Carey, author of The Intellectuals and the Masses“The stereotyping and hatred of the working class in Britain, documented so clearly by Owen Jones in this important book, should cause all to flinch. Reflecting our high levels of inequality, the stigmatization of the working class is a serious barrier to social justice and progressive change.”—Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, authors of The Spirit Level“Eloquent and impassioned.”—Andrew Neather, Evening Standard“Jones’s analysis of the condition of the working class is very astute ... A book like this is very much needed for the American scene, where the illusion is similarly perpetuated by the Democrats that the middle-class is all that matters, that everyone can aspire to join the middle-class or is already part of it .”—Anis Shivani, Huffington Post“Everybody knows what a chav is, it seems, but no one is a chav. But then it’s a word unlike any other in current usage ... A new book, Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class, by first-time author Owen Jones ... has thrown the word into the spotlight all over again.”—Carole Cadwalladr, Observer“A blinding read.”—Suzanne Moore, Guardian“[A] thought-provoking examination of a relatively new yet widespread derogatory characterization of the working class in Britain ... edifying and disquieting in equal measure.”—Publishers Weekly“A fiery reminder of how the system has failed the poor.”—Peter Hoskin, Daily Beast“Mr. Jones’s book is a cleareyed examination of the British class system, and it poses this brutal question: ‘How has hatred of working-class people become so socially acceptable?’ His timely answers combine wit, left-wing politics and outrage.”—Dwight Garner, New York Times

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Book SynopsisJilly Cooper is a journalist, author and media superstar. The author of many number one bestselling books, she lives in Gloucestershire. She has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Universities of Gloucestershire and Anglia Ruskin, and won the inaugural Comedy Women in Print lifetime achievement award in 2019. She was also appointed DBE in 2024 for services to literature and charity.Trade ReviewWitheringly funny, illuminated by astonishing brilliance * Observer *Enormously readable and very funny * Cosmopolitan *Highly entertaining, acerbic and wickedly observant... certain to become as much part of the verbal shorthand as was Nancy Mitford's U and Non-U, a generation ago * The Economist *

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Book SynopsisA FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A call to action for the creative class and labour movement to rally against the power of Big Tech and Big Media. Corporate concentration has breached the stratosphere, as have corporate profits. An ever-expanding constellation of industries are now monopolies (where sellers have excessive power over buyers) or monopsonies (where buyers hold the whip hand over sellers) — or both. Scholar Rebecca Giblin and writer and activist Cory Doctorow argue we’re in a new era of ‘chokepoint capitalism’, with exploitative businesses creating insurmountable barriers to competition that enable them to capture value that should rightfully go to others. All workers are weakened by this, but the problem is especially well illustrated by the plight of creative workers. From Amazon’s use of digital rights management and bundling to radically change the economics of book publishing, to Google and Facebook’s siphoning away of ad revenues from news media, and the Big Three record labels’ use of inordinately long contracts to up their own margins at the cost of artists, chokepoints are everywhere. By analysing book publishing and news, live music and music streaming, screenwriting, radio, and more, Giblin and Doctorow deftly show how powerful corporations construct ‘anti-competitive flywheels’ designed to lock in users and suppliers, make their markets hostile to new entrants, and then force workers and suppliers to accept unfairly low prices. Chokepoint Capitalism is a call to workers of all sectors to unite to help smash these chokepoints and take back the power and profit that’s being heisted away — before it’s too late.Trade Review‘Provocative … What makes this book so refreshing is that it never lets its reader off the hook … I see it as a kind of manual that will arm you with the technical knowhow (and the confidence) to demand more.’ -- Kitty Drake * The Guardian *‘Nerdy, sharp, radical, and readable.’ -- Tim Harford * Financial Times *‘Chokepoint Capitalism tells us how the vampires crashed the party, and provides protective garlic.’ -- Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale‘A welcome intervention.’ -- Oscar Williams * New Statesman *‘We all know something is wrong about every click, stream, and purchase we make — unfairly depriving value creators of their worth, while enriching the wealthiest and most extractive entities in human history. Instead of just complaining about the corporate stranglehold over production and exchange, Giblin and Doctorow show us why this happened, how it works, and what we can do about it. An infuriating yet inspiring call to collective action.’ -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus and Survival of the Richest‘An urgent, profound, and approachable take on what it's going to take to save our culture. If you care about books, movies, or music, read this book right now. And share a copy with a friend.’ -- Seth Godin, author of The Practice‘Chokepoint Capitalism is not just a fascinating tour of the hidden mechanics of the platform era, from Spotify playlists to Prince's name change, but a compelling agenda to break Big Tech's hold. It presents a clear new way to think about corporate power — and a path to taking that power back for cultural creators and all of us.’ -- Eli Pariser, author of The Filter Bubble and cofounder of Avaaz‘The great myth of the American economy is that it rewards creators and producers. But Chokepoint Capitalism dares to tell the real story of how it actually rewards the all-powerful middlemen fleecing both workers and consumers. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone who senses that the predominant economic mythology is a lie, who wants to know what's really happening in this economy — and who is ready to finally start fixing the problem.’ -- David Sirota, writer of Don't Look Up and founder of The Lever‘[A] lucid and damning exposé of how big business captured the culture markets … Interwoven with maddening tales of exploitation are detailed discussions of statutory licensing reform, copyright infringement detection systems, and other technical matters … The book’s broad scope, expert policy recommendations, and flashes of wit make it a must-read for anyone involved in these industries.’ -- Publishers Weekly, starred reviewGiblin and Doctorow persuasively argue that copyright can’t unrig a rigged market — for that you need worker power, antitrust, and solidarity.’ -- Jimmy Wales, cofounder of Wikipedia‘I loved this book … It helps us all see the locks and chains, and the ways to chisel through them.’ -- Zephyr Teachout, law professor and author of Corruption in America and Break ‘Em Up‘Creators are being ground up by the modern culture industries, with little choice but to participate in markets … Giblin and Doctorow show why, and offer a range of powerful strategies for fighting back.’ -- Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School‘Capitalism doesn’t work without competition. Giblin and Doctorow impressively show the extent to which that’s been lost throughout the creative industries, and how this pattern threatens every other worker.’ -- Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist‘A tome for the times … The revolution will not be spotified!’ -- Christopher Coe, artist and cofounder of Awesome Soundwave‘Chokepoint Capitalism couples its legal-economic critique with provocative, sometimes utopian, prescriptions for fairly remunerating authors and performers.’ -- Jane C. Ginsburg, Morton L. Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law at Columbia University School of Law‘Searing, essential, and incredibly readable.’ -- Adam Conover, comedian and host of The G-Word‘If you have ever wondered why the web feels increasingly stale, Chokepoint Capitalism outlines in great detail how it is being denied fresh air.’ -- Mat Dryhurst, artist and researcher at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music‘Chokepoint Capitalism is more than a clarion call for a new, necessary form of trustbusting. It’s a grand unified theory of a decades-long, corporate-led hollowing out of creative culture.’ -- Andy Greenberg, writer for WIRED and author of Sandworm and Tracers in the Dark‘Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow lay out their case in plain and powerful prose, offering a grand tour of the blighted cultural landscape and how our arts and artists have been chickenised, choked, and cheated.’ -- Kaiser Kuo, host and cofounder of The Sinica Podcast‘A masterwork … It’s a necessary read for any artist in the entertainment industry.’ -- David A. Goodman, writer, executive producer of The Orville, and former president of the WGA West‘Every creator will find inspiration here.’ -- Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch’[T]his is an important and powerful book not least because it crushes the myth of artists as out-of-touch elitists. Rather than painting creatives as different, Giblin and Doctorow emphasise the similarities between the problems they face and those endured by the great bulk of the population at a time when 40 per cent of Americans say they could not find $400 to cover an unexpected expense … If we want change, Giblin and Doctorow say we need to act collectively. That’s true for artists; it’s also true for non-artists … It’s only together that we’ll shake it off.’ -- Jeff Sparrow * The Saturday Paper *‘A searing and comprehensive take on the oligopolies that control creative markets, from publishing to music distribution to film distribution.’ * Alta *‘[Chokepoint Capitalism] is a dark portrait of a cultural system captured by billionaires … [and] helps us start the daunting task of taking back control.’ -- Justin O'Connor * The Conversation *‘Chokepoint Capitalism is the book we need now. Comprehensive and accessible, stirring and enlightening, it is a roadmap for taking immediate action against the corporate chokepoints that are crushing our creative workers and, increasingly, the rest of the middle class as well.’ * The Progressive *‘Totally readable.’ * The Spinoff *‘Giblin and Doctorow explain how companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook — and the big publishers — use their anti-competitive market powers to exploit creators, consumers and employees. The authors argue for collective action and minimum wages for creatives as some possible solutions to unblock the “chokepoints”.’ -- Justine Hyde, The Saturday Paper Best of 2022‘Chokepoint Capitalism offers an admirable antidote to the fiction that our economic systems operate the way they do because that’s how they are, rather than because a few companies managed to take early advantage of new technologies to manipulate those systems for their own benefit. You might not expect to find much hope in a book about the exploitation of people trying to earn a living doing what they love. But Giblin and Doctorow make a convincing case that taking on Big Tech and Big Content — seemingly a lonely and demoralising endeavour — is, in fact, an opportunity for community. Indeed, the fight demands community.’ -- Adam M. Lowenstein * The Atlantic *Praise for Information Doesn't Want to Be Free: ‘Doctorow breaks down the complex issues and tangled arguments surrounding technology, commerce, copyright, intellectual property, crowd funding, privacy and value — not to mention the tricky situation of becoming “Internet Famous.” … Doctorow has spoken and written on these issues many times before but never quite so persuasively. Required reading for creators making their ways through the new world.’ -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review‘Chokepoint Capitalism is a call to unite and it also highlights other key actions that need to take place to build a future where creative workers get a fair share of the wealth generated by their work.’ -- Celina Lei * ArtsHub *Praise for Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom: ‘Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is black-comedic sci-fi prophecy on the dangers of surrendering our consensual hallucination to the regime. Fun to read, but difficult to sleep afterwards.’ -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus and Survival of the RichestPraise for Code Wars: ‘With a combination of acute observation, close analysis and clear-headed honesty, Rebecca Giblin leads the reader to share her conclusion that there is no legislative, judicial, commercial or technical panacea for copyright infringement which P2P software facilitates, but that even now it is not too late to improve the manner in which the rights-owning and distribution sectors address the challenges that P2P poses.’ -- Jeremy Phillips, Olswang, and Intellectual Property Institute

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Book Synopsis''A deeply intelligent and searching book, one that makes you re-consider the narrative of your own life and reframe the story you tell yourself'' Hilary MantelA Guardian reader''s Best Book of 2018 There was a question that had come to trouble me a bit earlier, once I had taken the first steps on this return journey to Reims... Why, when I have had such an intense experience of forms of shame related to class ... why had it never occurred to me to take up this problem in a book?Returning to Reims is a breathtaking account of one man''s return to the town where he grew up after an absence of thirty years. It is a frank, fearlessly personal story of family, memory, identity and time lost. But it is also a sociologist''s view of what itmeans to grow up working class and then leave that class; of inequality and shifting political allegiances in an increasingly divided nation. A phenomenon in France and a huge bestseller in Germany, Didier Eribon has written the defining memoir of our times.''I was overwhelmed by this book. I felt I was reading the story of my life'' Edouard Louis, author of The End of Eddy''A book about self-invention and belonging'' Colm ToibinTrade ReviewA brilliant little book...a touching memoir of sexual awakening, and a gallery of philosophical ideas and characters -- Steven Poole * The Observer *A deeply intelligent and searching book, one that makes you re-consider the narrative of your own life and reframe the story you tell yourself... Didier Eribon understands how deep the roots of inequality go -- Hilary MantelReturning to Reims played a capital role in my life... I was overwhelmed by this book. I felt I was reading the story of my life. -- Edouard LouisThis is a self-excoriating memoir... [Eribon] writes as someone who has scrubbed hard at the markings of destiny -- Marina Benjamin * New Statesman *A stunning book -- vital and important -- Andrew McMillanHypnotic ... a gripping read * Daily Telegraph *Eribon's memoir is fascinating: full of fretful honesty, battling with shame around his background and shame at being ashamed -- The TimesEribon offers up a magnificent example of an enlightened life liberated by theory, written in a style that deftly moves between the intimate, the social and the political -- Annie ErnauxA powerful book and one that I enjoyed immensely -- Geoffrey Beattie * Irish Times *This is a beautiful book about suppression, losing touch with your roots, and regaining balance * Art in America *An honest and moving personal narrative that is skilfully threaded through sociological and political analysis. I was captivated from beginning to end -- Diane Reay * author of Miseducation: Inequality, Education and the Working Classes *This intensely personal account of Didier Eribon's family is a fascinating and compelling read...The book is beautifully written (and as beautifully translated). It is at once pleasureable and edifying to read * Joan W. Scott *Retour à Reims could be a novel. It has all the allure and attraction of one -- Claire Devarrieux * Libération *[a] particular favourite... thinks in this space with nuance and style -- Joanna Lee * White Review BOOKS OF THE YEAR *

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Book SynopsisTaking a career break is a conflicted and risky decision for high-achieving professional women. Yet many do so, usually planning, even as they quit, to return to work eventually. But can they? And if so, how? In Opting Back In, Pamela Stone and Meg Lovejoy revisit women first interviewed a decade earlier in Stone's book Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home to answer these questions. In frank and intimate accounts, women lay bare the dilemmas they face upon reentry. Most succeed but not by returning to their former high-paying, still family-inhospitable jobs. Instead, women strike out in new directions, finding personally gratifying but lower-paid jobs in the gig economy or predominantly female nonprofit sector. Opting Back In uncovers a paradox of privilege by which the very women best positioned to achieve leadership and close gender gaps use strategies to resume their careers that inadvertently reinforce gender inequality. The authors advocate gender equitable poliTrade Review"Provides vital insights into the processes and consequences of career interruption for professional women who take time out for motherhood." * Gender and Society *"This book is richly descriptive and analytically subtle as it illuminates the social class dynamics among the privileged women interviewed." * American Journal of Sociology *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Great Expectations 2. The Siren Call of Privileged Domesticity 3. Putting Family First: The Slow Return 4. Career Relaunch: Heeding the Call 5. Questing and Reinvention 6. The Big Picture 7. The Paradox of Privilege and Beyond Appendix. Study Methodology Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisWith a new introduction on the Ukraine crisis LONGLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 A DAILY MAIL BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS BOOK OF 2022 A DAILY MIRROR BEST NON-FICTION BOOK OF 2022 A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 PRESENTER OF THE BBC RADIO 4 SERIES 'HOW TO STEAL A TRILLION' A WATERSTONES BEST POLITICS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 AN IRISH TIMES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 A MANAGEMENT TODAY BEST LEADERSHIP BOOK OF 2022 How did Britain become the servant of the world's most powerful and corrupt men? From accepting multi-million pound tips from Russian oligarchs, to the offshore tax havens, meet Butler Britain... In his Sunday Times-bestselling expose, Oliver Bullough reveals how the UK took up its position at the elbow of the worst people on Earth: the oligarchs, kleptocrats and gangsters. Though the UK prides itself on values of fair play and the rule of law, few countries do more to frustrate global anti-corruption efforts. From the murky origins of tax havens and gambling centres in the British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar to the influence of oligarchs in the British establishment, Butler to the World is the story of how we became a nation of Jeeveses - and how it doesn't have to be this way.Trade ReviewBUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 * The Times *Brilliant -- Marina Hyde * Guardian *A really engrossing and enraging read -- Ian RankinBullough's angry, fascinating study of corruption and power in modern-day geopolitics has the pace of an airport thriller and the righteous zeal of a prosecuting barrister * Observer *A very, very good book -- Ian HislopTerrific ... pulled by a current of Tory indolence, Britain flounders in a sea of dirty money -- Nick Cohen * Observer *Razor-sharp * FT *Could a book ever be more timely? ... Highly readable * The Times *Bullough's highly readable account of the UK's role in facilitating global financial wrongdoing is a call to action * Daily Mail *Unmissable -- Tim Adams * Guardian *A terrifyingly good book -- Alastair CampbellShockingly timely ... excellent * Mail on Sunday *Grimly fascinating ... remarkable -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Bullough is cynical, and his findings make depressing reading... but he's right that the whole system is built to facilitate the crooks, and takes the rest of us for mugs * Spectator *Uncommonly timely * Herald *What's most apt about Bullough's butler analogy is the appearance of gray-flannel propriety, and the ways it can impart an aura of respectability to even the most disreputable fortune. -- 'Best Books of 2022: Nonfiction' * New Yorker *[A] Phenomenal book -- Liam Byrne MPBullough charts in jaw-dropping detail how our deregulated financial sector helps dodgy plutocrats squirrel away their fortunes * Daily Express *Highly readable... deserve[s] praise for going beyond moralising and pointing out how an industry geared to enabling the corrupt is not just unsavoury but can hurt a country's real economic prospects' -- Martin Sandbu * FT *It is hard to imagine a more timely book ... Butler to the World is both a brilliant and depressing blast at decades of malign financial cosiness and the politicians who let it happen ... It takes guts to write and publish a book like this ... Bullough doesn't sit back and drily condemn all this financial skulduggery, he goes to meet the people who helped create the conditions that allowed it to happen -- Robert Verkaik * Guardian *An urgent account of Britain's history of welcoming corrupt capital ... Mr Bullough argues compellingly that though more anti-corruption funds and tougher enforcement are welcome, what is really needed is a change of philosophy: for principles to take precedence over the profits of a few * The Economist *Butler to the World's main message - that Britain needs to clean up its act not just for its own good but for that of the world - rings all the louder because of current geopolitics ... it's a damning judgement, but one that Bullough ... is well-positioned to give -- Rory Sullivan * Independent *Urgent and deeply reported * New Statesman 'Best Books of 2022 so far' *Jaw-dropping ... Bullough has a gift for making complex financial information comprehensible and strives to leaven this depressing story with jokes and deft character sketches ... timely -- Charlotte Heathcote * Daily Mirror *Bullough does a great line in deft sketches of personalities -- Eric Rauchway, Distinguished Professor of History at the University of California * TLS *An essential exposé ... the pages reek of dirty money linked to Britain that Bullough has a nose for sniffing out ... impressive, pacy journalism that will leave you flabbergasted * Irish Sunday Independent *The term 'timely' is used all too often in the media, but there really isn't a more timely book than Oliver Bullough's Butler to the World ... If you like books where you learn a lot - which we certainly do - then we commend it to you wholeheartedly. * The Fence *Butler to the World helpfully freeze-frames ... an embarrassing state of affairs, with few signs of Britain's unprincipled eagerness diminishing ... why is the county's politico-financial elite, so convinced of Britain's brand values of honesty and trustworthiness, so open to helping find comfortable homes for the tainted wealth of oligarch, gangster and kleptocrat? * Strong Words *A horribly brilliant account of just how much historical integrity Britain has sacrificed at the altar of dirty money. Bullough is a compelling and expert guide to the newly-dug sewers flowing through the heart of our political, legal and financial establishment -- James O'Brien, author * How Not to be Wrong *This is an absolute must-read for everyone who wants to understand Britain's crucial role in the global dirty money crisis. British institutions, our laws, our people and our failure to police effectively means - as Bullough demonstrates - that we are the servants to kleptocrats, money launderers and serious criminals. With the brilliant concept of Britain as the butler, Bullough lifts the lid and explains in a very clear and intelligible way why and how Britain is facilitating illicit finance across the world. The narrative is gripping, the analysis original and powerful and the detailed examples terrifying. This book will provide a powerful contribution to the important debate on the UK and dirty money -- Margaret Hodge, MP and chair of the Public Accounts CommitteeOliver Bullough unsparingly reveals the devastating facts behind Britain's dirty financial secrets and moral guilt while directly challenging the UK to clean up its act. This book is a must-read for those who care about our reputation in the world today -- Andrew Mitchell MP, former British international development ministerUrgent and essential reading. From grasping bankers to opportunistic lawyers and feckless MPs, unable and unwilling to withstand the schemes of the global rich, Oliver Bullough has drilled down to the root of the malaise that's rotting the UK system. Beautifully written with quiet despairing humour, this is the defining story of our times -- Catherine Belton * Putin’s People *Not only a witty and well researched economic history of Britain's role as financial Butler to the world, this is also a savage analysis of Britain's soul. As essential as Orwell at his best -- Peter Pomerantsev * This Is Not Propaganda *If like me you've ever wondered what all those university graduate schemes were ultimately about, Bullough outlines it here... Timely and revealing -- Lucy Prebble, writer and executive producer * Succession *Riveting from cover to cover; a jaw-dropping and damning account that will make you sit up and re-evaluate what you think about the City, the UK and global finance -- Peter Frankopan, author * The Silk Roads *Anyone who cares about the future of this country should read this sizzlingly written and incendiary story of our national decline. For more than 60 years our financial system has been corroded by greed - and has in turn corrupted our politics. This book blows apart Britain's image for gentlemanly respectability and lays bare the real picture: ruthless greed disguised by hypocrisy, and tolerated because of wilful ignorance -- Edward Lucas, author * The New Cold War: How the Kremlin Menaces Both Russia and the West *The shocking revelation of how the old heart of an unscrupulous empire turned into a fawning servant to the global super-rich. The sooner more people realise this, the better -- Danny Dorling, author * Rule Britannia *

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Book SynopsisThe petty bourgeoisie — the insecure class between the working class and the bourgeoisie — is hugely significant within global politics. Yet it remains something of a mystery. Initially identified as a powerful political force by theorists like Marx and Poulantzas, the petit-bourgeoisie was expected to decline, as small businesses and small property were gradually swallowed up by monopoly capitalism. Yet, far from disappearing, structural changes to the global economy under neoliberalism have instead grown the petty bourgeoisie, and the individualist values associated with it have been popularized by a society which fetishizes "aspiration", home ownership and entrepreneurship. So why has this happened? A Nation of Shopkeepers sheds a light on this mysterious class, exploring the class structure of contemporary Britain and the growth of the petty bourgeoisie following Thatcherism. It shows how the rise of home ownership, small landlordism and radical changes to the world of work have increasingly inculcated values of petty bourgeois individualism; how popular culture has promoted and reproduced values of aspiration and conspicuous consumption that militate against socialist organizing; and, most importantly, what the unstoppable rise of the petit-bourgeoisie means for the left.Trade Review"A brilliant account of how and why “working class” and “middle class” have become such useless labels in the UK, and how we are actually divided."“A Nation of Shopkeepers asks important questions about class composition beyond the urban centres and “the left.” For those serious about making sense of class and the potential for transforming society today, Daniel Evans’ book makes an important contribution.”"A brilliantly readable exploration of the difficulties and the necessity of class analysis for any imaginably successful left politics.”“This is a vivid and passionate account of the renewal of class divisions in British society and the visceral forms they take. Anyone who doubts the relevance of contemporary class divides is encouraged to read this book.”“A fascinating and accessible account of a social class that is too often neglected or misunderstood. This book powerfully makes the case for a sociologically informed analysis of the capitalist class structure today.”“This is a fantastically written romp filled with humour and pathos which takes us through the history and peculiarities of the British Class system and its connections to modern British politics.”"An intriguing, very political, and unexpectedly personal book for those who are obsessed with class and the global failures of the left."“A book of theoretical and political clarity that will help all of us think through the political and economic striation of the petty bourgeoisie.”“A brilliant examination of the life and ideology of the petty bourgeoisie, the silent majority of ‘normal people’ whose safe, suburban, newbuild lifestyle belies their huge political influence and violent history.”"Evans does a terrific job of helping us break out of classic class schemas that are either too abstract to help practical political interventions or have not kept up to date with the evolving and complex developments in the formation of classes in Britain. ""A rigorous and attentive book that will be crucial reading for the contemporary British left."

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Book SynopsisAn eye for an eye, the balance of the scales – for centuries, these and other traditional concepts exemplified the public’s perception of justice. Today, popular culture, including television shows like Law and Order, informs the public’s vision. But do age-old symbols, portrayals in the media, and existing systems truly represent justice in all of its nuanced forms, or do we need to think beyond these notions? The second edition of Social Justice: Theories, Issues, and Movements responds to the need for a comprehensive introduction to these issues. Theories of social justice are presented in an accessible fashion to encourage engagement of students, activists, and scholars with these important lines of inquiry. Issues are analyzed utilizing various theories for furthering engagement in possibilities. Struggles for justice -- from legal cases to on the ground movements -- are presented for historical context and to inform the way forward. Trade ReviewThis new edition effectively updates an all-too-rare book in the criminal justice library. The additions link the book to many contemporary debates that have evolved since it was first published. -- Raymond J. Michalowski * Northern Arizona University *This book is a major contribution to the field and sensitizes us to the importance of moving beyond mainstream, narrow conceptions of justice. -- Walter S. DeKeseredy * Professor of Criminology, Justice and Policy Studies, University of Ontario *This book is as provocative as it is path-breaking on a topic that richly deserves to be center stage in the drama of everyday life. Capeheart and Milovanovic set the new standard for understanding the theories, issues and struggles that represent the call for social justice at home and abroad, in our institutions and communities, and throughout our very existences. -- Bruce A. Arrigo * coauthor of Theory, Justice, and Social Change *Table of ContentsContents Preface 1. Introduction Part I Explorations in Social Justice 2. Conceptions of Justice: Philosophical, Sociological, and Criminological 3. Distributive Justice 4. Retributive Justice 5. Toward Transformative Justice Part II Issues in Social Justice 6. Multiculturalism and Globalism: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Forms of Justice 7. Environmental, Ecological, And Species Justice 8. Indigenous, Postcolonial, and Counter-colonial Forms of Justice 9. Postmodern, Post Postmodern, and Posthumanist Forms of Justice Part III Struggles for Social Justice 10. Legal Struggles and Social Justice 11. Justice and Grassroots Struggles 12. Emerging Conceptions of Justice in a Global Arena 13. Conclusion References Index

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Book SynopsisWritten when Engels was only twenty-four, and inspired in particular by his time living amongst the poor in Manchester, this forceful polemic explores the staggering human cost of the Industrial Revolution in Victorian England. Engels paints an unforgettable picture of daily life in the new industrial towns, and for miners and agricultural workers--depicting overcrowded housing, abject poverty, child labour, sexual exploitation, dirt and drunkenness--in a savage indictment of the greed of the bourgeoisie. His fascinating later preface, written for the first English edition of 1892 and included here, brought the story up to date in the light of forty years'' further refelection. A masterpiece of committed reporting and an impassioned call to arms, this is one of the great pioneering works of social history.

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Book SynopsisWITH NEW INTRODUCTIONS BY ANDREW McMILLAN AND JACK CHADWICKFrom a childhood of poverty, yet joy and freedom, to the punishing grind of factory life and the idiocy of being sent blindly into war, Caliban Shrieks' narrator takes readers on a lyrical tour of life as a young man born into the first days of the 20th century.Turned out of the army a vagrant - seeing England from city to city, county to county - before being thrust back into an uncertain cycle of working life as it unfolds in the post-war years, Caliban Shrieks was Jack Hilton's invitation to enter the whirlwind of an existence rarely seen in the literature of his day. A novel of men and women lost, wandering and angrily dreaming of a better, fairer England, Hilton's autobiographical novel is a bold modernist retelling of the myth of how we find ourselves disenfranchised from the world and sold into a slavery of our making.Lost to time, only to be rediscovered again in the Salford''s Working Class Movement Library in 2022, Caliban Shrieks is a working-class masterpiece of British literature, and continues to speak as brash and impassioned as it did on its first rave publication in 1935.

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Orwell Prize, 2019 ____________The Times Round-up of the Best Non-fiction Paperbacks, 2019The Times Best Current Affairs and Big Ideas Book of the Year, 2018For many in modern Britain, careers are low-paid and high-risk, a series of short-term jobs with no security and little future. In this essential exposé, James Bloodworth goes undercover to investigate how working life has become a waking nightmare. From the Orwellian reach of an Amazon warehouse to the trials of a care worker, Hired is a clear-eyed analysis of a divided nation and a riveting dispatch from the very frontline of low-wage Britain.'An extraordinary and unsettling journey into the way modern Britons work. It is George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London for the gig-economy age' MATTHEW D'ANCONA, author of Post-TruthTrade ReviewPotent, disturbing and revelatory... [Bloodworth] sets out to see something we should know more about than we do, and he tells the story of what he found well. * Evening Standard *A very discomforting book, no matter what your politics might be... very good * Sunday Times *Grim but necessary reading... Theresa May should horrify [Bloodworth] by picking up a copy of Hired and learning from it. * Spectator *An extraordinary and unsettling journey into the way modern Britons work. It is Down and Out In Paris and London for the gig economy age. * Matthew d'Ancona, Guardian columnist and bestselling author of Post-Truth *Exceptional... Bloodworth is the best young left wing writer Britain has produced in years. * Observer *Powerful and important... [Hired] reveals the true reality of the low-pay economy in Britain today. * Guardian *Elegant and frequently shocking. * Daily Mail *Unflinching... a refreshing antidote to the fashionable post-work these written from steel-and-ivory towers. * Prospect *A wake-up call to us all. A very graphic and authentic journey exposing the hard and miserable working life faced by too many people living in Britain today. * Margaret Hodge, MP, former Chair, Public Accounts Committee *Whatever you think of the political assertions in this book - and I disagree with many of them - this is an important investigation into the reality of low-wage Britain. Whether you are on the Right, Left or Centre, anybody who believes in solidarity and social justice should read this book. * Nick Timothy, former Chief of Staff to Theresa May *I emerged from James Bloodworth's quietly devastating and deeply disturbing book convinced that the 'gig economy' is simply another way in which the powerful are enabled to oppress the disadvantaged * D. J. Taylor, author of Orwell: The Biography *A truly devastating examination of the vulnerable human underbelly of Britain's labour market, shining a bright light on the unjust and exploitative practices that erode the morale and living standards of working-class communities. * Frank Field, MP *James Bloodworth pulls back the carpet and exposes the rotten floorboards of Britain's low wage, insecure and exploitative economy, describing living and working conditions that Dickens would recognise. A wake-up call to our political elites to genuinely tackle the gross inequality at the heart of our society. * Wes Streeting, MP *Hired is a refreshing antidote to the fashionable post-work theses written from steel-and-ivory towers * The Big Questions (BBC TV) *James Bloodworth's unflinching account of life and work in the towns we have come to know as being "left behind" exposes the mercilessness of the low-wage economy and modern capitalism * Prospect *

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Book SynopsisRedundancies upend people's lives, cause enormous stress, and lead to debilitating personal debt. The societal harm caused by mass layoffs has been known about for decades. Yet, we continue to do little to stop them. Why?InWall Street's War on Workers, Les Leopold, co-founder of The Labor Institute, explains why mass layoffs occur and how our current laws and regulations allow companies to turn these layoffs into short-term financial gains. He provides a clear lens with which we should see how healthy corporations in the United States have used mass layoffs and stock buybacks to enrich shareholders at the expense of their employees.Wall Street's War on Workersplaces U.S. labor practices in the broader context of social and political life, examining the impact financial strip-mining and legalized looting are having on party politics as well as society, destr

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Book SynopsisMusa Okwonga – a young Black man who grew up in a predominantly working-class town – was not your typical Eton College student.The experience moulded him, challenged him… but also made him wonder why a place that was so good for him also seems to contribute to the harm being done to the UK. The more he searched, the more evident the connection became between one of Britain’s most prestigious institutions and the genesis of Brexit, and between his home town in the suburbs of Greater London and the rise of the far right.Woven throughout this deeply personal and unflinching memoir of Musa’s five years at Eton in the 1990s is a present-day narrative which engages with much wider questions about pressing social and political issues: privilege, the distribution of wealth, the rise of the far right in the UK, systemic racism, the ‘boys’ club’ of government and the power of the few to control the fate of the many. One of Them is both an intimate account and a timely exploration of race and class in modern Britain.Trade Review 'The memoir I've enjoyed most this year' Hilary Mantel 'Moving ... stays with you long after you've finished it' Nigella Lawson 'A superb memoir ... written with a poet's lyricism and a journalist's clarity' Nish Kumar 'An urgent exposition on how [Eton]’s undue influence is shaping political forces - from the current government and Brexit to the rise of nationalist and racist politics' Stylist 'Okwonga is a writer worth waiting half a century for' New Statesman 'Fascinating insight into the workings of one of the most exclusive, secretive and privileged institutions on earth' Robert Verkaik, author of Posh Boys 'Writing that holds and ambushes you in turn ... a portrait of the allure of institutional power' Vinay Patel 'Raw evidence of the power of resilience and determination and hope ... a blistering memoir' Salena Godden 'Frank, fascinating and unique ... essential reading' Hashi Mohamed, author of People Like Us 'A nuanced and complex account' Daily Telegraph 'The memoir I've enjoyed most this year' Hilary Mantel'Moving ... stays with you long after you've finished it' Nigella Lawson'A superb memoir ... written with a poet's lyricism and a journalist's clarity' Nish Kumar'An urgent exposition on how [Eton]'s undue influence is shaping political forces' Stylist'Lyrical, often funny, intensely personal and undeniably thought-provoking' Literary Review'A nuanced and complex account' Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisIn a town full of secrets the truth must be uncovered before it's buried forever. When a police detective is found murdered in the town of Wakestead, all clues point to local woman Amma Reynolds. Amma has a clear motive. She hates the police for failing to properly investigate her brother's death, which was written off as an accidental drowning. Amma has always believed her brother was murdered. Could she have killed DI Mark Stormont in revenge?Former detective and private investigator Erin Crane is hired to find out. As she digs deeper, Erin realises that first she needs to uncover why Amma's brother turned up dead in a river all those years ago. Even if it means tearing her friendship with DI Lewis Jennings apart. Because there are some secrets the Wakestead police force would rather stay buriedPraise for previous novel The Blame;'Searingly topical' The Telegraph on The Blame'Shocking' Heat on The Blame

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Book SynopsisToday''s leading economists weigh in with a new dashboard of metrics for measuring our economic and social health What we measure affects what we do. If we focus only on material well-beingon, say, the production of goods, rather than on health, education, and the environmentwe become distorted in the same way that these measures are distorted.Joseph E. Stiglitz A consensus has emerged among key experts that our conventional economic measures are out of sync with how most people live their lives. GDP, they argue, is a poor and outmoded measure of our well-being. The global movement to move beyond GDP has attracted some of the world''s leading economists, statisticians, and social thinkers who have worked collectively to articulate new approaches to measuring economic well-being and social progress. In the decade since the 2008 economic crisis, these experts have come together to determine what indicators can actually tell

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Book SynopsisAn insidious snobbery has taken root in parts of progressive Britain. Working-class voters have flexed their political muscles and helped to change the direction of the country, but in doing so they have been met with disdain and even abuse from elites in politics, culture and business. At election time, we hear a lot about 'levelling up the Red Wall'. But what can actually be done to meet the very real concerns of the 'left behind' in the UK's post-industrial towns? In these once vibrant hubs of progress, working-class voters now face the prospect of being minimised, marginalised and abandoned. In this new updated edition of his rousing polemic, David Skelton explores the roots and reality of this new snobbery, calling for an end to the divisive culture war and the creation of a new politics of the common good, empowering workers, remaking the economy and placing communities centre stage. Above all, he argues that we now have a once-in-a-century opportunity to bring about permanent change.

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Book SynopsisFifty years since first publication, E. P. Thompson''s revolutionary account of working-class culture and ideals is published in Penguin Modern Classics, with a new introduction by historian Michael KennyThis classic and imaginative account of working-class society in its formative years, 1780 to 1832, revolutionized our understanding of English social history. E. P. Thompson shows how the working class took part in its own making and re-creates the whole-life experience of people who suffered loss of status and freedom, who underwent degradation, and who yet created a cultured and political consciousness of great vitality.Reviews:''A dazzling vindication of the lives and aspirations of the then - and now once again - neglected culture of working-class England'' Martin Kettle, Observer''Superbly readable . . . a moving account of the culture of the self-taught in an age of social and intellectual deprivation'' Asa Briggs, Financial Times''Thompson''s work combines passion and intellect, the gifts of the poet, the narrator and the analyst'' E. J. Hobsbawm, Independent''An event not merely in the writing of English history but in the politics of our century'' Michael Foot, Times Literary Supplement''The greatest of our socialist historians'' Terry Eagleton, New StatesmanAbout the author:E. P. Thompson was born in 1924 and read history at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, graduating in 1946. An academic, writer and acclaimed historian, his first major work was a biography of William Morris. The Making of the English Working Class was instantly recognized as a classic on its publication in 1963 and secured his position as one of the leading social historians of his time. Thompson was also an active campaigner and key figure in the ending of the Cold War. He died in 1993, survived by his wife and two sons.Trade ReviewThompson's work combines passion and intellect, the gifts of the poet, the narrator and the analyst -- Eric Hobsbawm * Independent *A dazzling vindication of the lives and aspirations of the then - and now once again - neglected culture of working-class England -- Martin Kettle * Observer *Superbly readable . . . a moving account of the culture of the self-taught in an age of social and intellectual deprivation -- Asa Briggs * Financial Times *An event not merely in the writing of English history but in the politics of our century -- Michael Foot * Times Literary Supplement *The greatest of our socialist historians -- Terry Eagleton * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisFirst Published in 1967. In The Landed Interest and the Supply of Food James Caird reconsidered the position of British agriculture a generation after the appearance of his High Farming pamphlet and his English Agriculture in 1850 and 1851. Much of this text was devoted to a reconsideration of the structure of landownership and farming, and the relations between landlord and tenant. This is the fifth edition.Table of ContentsHome and foreign supply of food; changes and progress in agriculture in recent years; soil, climate and crops; distribution of landed property; landowner, farmer and labourer; land improvement; recent rise in the value of land; the government in its connection with agriculture; waste lands and copyholds; church, crown and charity estates; the future; agricultural prospects; appendix. (Part contents).

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Book Synopsis'Intensely readable... A stimulating and necessary redress' David Kynaston, SpectatorPoliticians say social mobility is real... this book proves otherwise.From servants' children who became clerks in Victorian Britain, to managers made redundant by the 2008 financial crash, travelling up or down the social ladder has been a fact of British life for more than a century. Drawing on hundreds of personal stories, Snakes and Ladders tells the hidden history of how people have really experienced that social mobility in both directions. It shows how a powerful elite on the top rungs have clung to their perch, as well as introducing us to the unsung heroes who created more room at the top. As we face political crisis after crisis, Snakes and Ladders argues that only by creating greater opportunities for everyone to thrive can we ensure the survival of our society.'A fascinating, important book' Mail on Sunday'A trove of stories of human hope and disappointment' New Statesman'Fascinating... A rich and well-observed historical account' Financial TimesTrade ReviewThe great strength of Selina Todd's Snakes and Ladders . . . is the richness of her presentation of it as a lived experience, whether upwards or downwards . . . intensely readable . . . a stimulating and necessary redress -- David Kynaston * Spectator *In this fascinating, important book, Professor Selina Todd shows us that 'levelling up' has always been a far more chancy, even unrewarding, business than we like to think -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *Structured around the personal stories of people who have experienced upward social mobility over the past 140 years or so . . . The social history that Todd deals with here is fascinating . . . The pandemic, as she argues, has reminded us that the jobs we reward are often not those that matter most. So instead of (or as well as) agonising about who gets to join the elite, we need to redefine the elite itself -- David Aaronovich * The Times *Snakes and Ladders arrives at a moment of particular relevance . . . this pandemic is an opportunity to look at what is "essential" in work and to reward it appropriately. Society is only as mobile as its structures allow. And it would be no bad thing if affording status to all strata of society became more important than "getting ahead" -- Andrew Anthony * Observer *Fascinating... [Snakes & Ladders is a] rich and well-observed historical account -- David Willetts * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisLook Again: Reimagining the National Collection of British Art for today. An incisive exploration of the relationship between social class and art by an extraordinarily gifted young writer. Class is a subject that has shaped the art world in Britain for as long as it has existed. At a moment when galleries and museums are seen to be upholding outdated and damaging class structures and systems, how is it possible to trace and tackle the legacy and impact of class in art throughout history, and today? Class is a radical reframing of some of our most relevant and respected artworks, recasting the national collection of art in socio-political rather than chronological or art-historical terms, and by doing so, broadening access to art for all. It journeys from the London of Henry James and Hogarth, through Gilbert and George’s Swinging Sixties and beyond, past the Young British Artists to a new generation tackling the question of class, and the intersection of social, racial and political inequality.

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Book SynopsisA fresh take on social class from the experts behind the BBC''s ''Great British Class Survey''.Why does social class matter more than ever in Britain today?How has the meaning of class changed?What does this mean for social mobility and inequality?In this book Mike Savage and the team of sociologists responsible for the Great British Class Survey look beyond the labels to explore how and why our society is changing and what this means for the people who find themselves in the margins as well as in the centre.Their new conceptualization of class is based on the distribution of three kinds of capital - economic (inequalities in income and wealth), social (the different kinds of people we know) and cultural (the ways in which our leisure and cultural preferences are exclusive) - and provides incontrovertible evidence that class is as powerful and relevant today as it''s ever been.Trade ReviewThis endlessly fascinating study... is indispensable if you want to understand modern Britain -- Rod Liddle * Sunday Times *A fascinating read, going deep into the interplay between wealth, culture and society, and making the strong case that traditional class divisions don't really help us to understand these forces any more . . . anybody in the UK discussing class henceforth will need to get this down of the shelf -- Hugo Rifkind * Times *Convincing and fascinating . . . this book marshals impressive evidence to show how inequality is increasing. -- Robert Colvile * Telegraph *There's something for everybody here . . . it will start many conversations * Evening Standard *

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Book SynopsisA searing account of George Orwell''s observations of working-class life in the bleak industrial heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire in the 1930s, The Road to Wigan Pier is a brilliant and bitter polemic that has lost none of its political impact over time. His graphically unforgettable descriptions of social injustice, cramped slum housing, dangerous mining conditions, squalor, hunger and growing unemployment are written with unblinking honesty, fury and great humanity. It crystallized the ideas that would be found in Orwell''s later works and novels, and remains a powerful portrait of poverty, injustice and class divisions in Britain.Published with an introduction by Richard Hoggart in Penguin Modern Classics.''It is easy to see why the book created and still creates so sharp an impact ... exceptional immediacy, freshness and vigour, opinionated and bold ... Above all, it is a study of poverty and, behind that, of the strength of class-divisTrade ReviewTrue genius ... all his anger and frustration found their first proper means of expression in Wigan Pier -- Peter Ackroyd * The Times *

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Book SynopsisIn this riveting book, Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank explores the lives and lifestyles of a new breed of millionaires and billionaires - many of them self-made and from blue-collar backgrounds - and how this new gilded age is affecting wider society. Profiles of ''instapreneurs'', dot-com billionaires, and eccentrics from the lower and upper reaches of Richistan take us into the rarified world of people like Ed Bazinet, who became a multi-millionaire by selling miniature ceramic villages, and Tim Blixseth, who earned billions by trading remote stretches of timberland. The influence wielded by the newly wealthy goes far beyond their earning power, and Frank also explores the lifestyles developing around them (butler schools and a new type of service employee, self-help groups for people worth $10 million or more) as well as where their money is going (the commodification of the art world, the rise of ''market-driven'' philanthropy). As wealth creation becomes more and more gTrade ReviewA fascinating excursion through the lives of the rich. The rise and rise of rich people is the most important and least noticed economic trend of our time. Richistan is a lively glimpse of the future. * Richard Koch *Jaw dropping * OBSERVER *I couldn't put it down. Frank's field guide to the new rich is as funny as it is fascinating. * Chris Anderson, author of The Long TAIL *A superb travelogue of a land with its own education, healthcare and transprot systems, holiday destinations and social norms, which is anthropological in scope and not judgmental * EVENING STANDARD *

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Book SynopsisWhy do Oscar winners live for an average of four years longer than other Hollywood actors?Who experiences the most stress - the decision-makers or those who carry out their orders?Why do the Japanese have better health than other rich populations, and Keralans in India have better health than other poor populations - and what do they have in common?In this eye-opening book, internationally renowned epidemiologist Michael Marmot sets out to answer these and many other fascinating questions in order to understand the relationship between where we stand in the social hierarchy and our health and longevity. It is based on more than thirty years of front-line research between health and social circumstances. Marmot''s work has taken him round the world showing the similar patterns that could be affecting the length of your life - and how you can change it.Trade Review‘Marmot's important study shows that - in every culture - our happiness and health are closely related to the place we occupy in the status hierarchy, and that that the key to status is our occupation' * Will Hutton, Guardian *‘Marmot's fascinating study not only presents its formidable research accessibly, but offers pragmatic steps with which governments, if so inclined, could redress the imbalance ... this is a pressing polemic bolstered by facts' * Scotland on Sunday *‘Bubbling with findings, discreetly illuminated by the light of social justice, written considerately for ordinary readers, Status Syndrome is packed with ideas that should have been coursing through public debate for years' * Independent *‘Marmot is a world-class scientist who writes deeply about matters of life and death with the grace of a world-class essayist ... Anyone concerned about the health of our society should read this book' * Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone *

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Book SynopsisTwo groundbreaking sociologists explore the way the American dream is built on the backs of working poor women Many Americans take comfort and convenience for granted. We eat at nice restaurants, order groceries online, and hire nannies to care for kids. Getting Me Cheap is a riveting portrait of the lives of the low-wage workers—primarily women—who make this lifestyle possible. Sociologists Lisa Dodson and Amanda Freeman follow women in the food, health care, home care, and other low-wage industries as they struggle to balance mothering with bad jobs and without public aid. While these women tend to the needs of well-off families, their own children frequently step into premature adult roles, providing care for siblings and aging family members. Based on years of in-depth field work and hundreds of eye-opening interviews, Getting Me Cheap explores how America traps millions of women and their children into lives of stunted opportunity and poverty in service of giving others of us the lives we seek. Destined to rank with works like Evicted and Nickle and Dimed for its revelatory glimpse into how our society functions behind the scenes, Getting Me Cheap also offers a way forward—with both policy solutions and a keen moral vision for organizing women across class lines.Trade ReviewPraise for Getting Me Cheap:“This empathetic and eye-opening study leaves a mark.”—Publishers Weekly“The stories shared in this volume speak for themselves, spotlighting the frustrations, needs, and hopes of the women featured.”—Library Journal“An insightful book that shines light on issues that should be better understood by any responsible citizen.”—Kirkus Reviews“An illuminating primer placing the obstacles facing women with low-wage jobs at the forefront of intersectional feminism.”—Booklist“An urgent exposé and exploration of one of our most pressing social problems—hidden in plain sight. A must-read for anyone concerned about how to make America a more just and equal nation.”—Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and author of One Fair Wage“This formidable book insists we face the harm of wage poverty in women’s lives and see the real costs of relying on their cheap labor. The powerful stories of mothers’ determination to care for their children become a courageous call for solidarity and collective action.”—Ellen Bravo, activist and author of Standing Up: Tales of Struggle“The lives that so many of us lead depend on the invisible labor of others, whose own needs are cast aside by our society. This brilliant book moves those essential workers—so many of them mothers—into the light”—Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America“The United States has the highest percentage of low-wage workers of any country in the OECD aside from Lithuania—a disproportionate number of them women who provide services to better-off families. Freeman and Dobson take us inside their lives to reveal the price they and their families pay for the cheap labor they provide to others.”—Stephanie Coontz, author of The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap

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Book Synopsis'You see, if only they didn’t speak English in America, then we’d treat it as a foreign country – and probably understand it a lot better’‘the sanest man in America’ – Bill Bryson‘Jon Sopel nails it’ – Emily Maitlis**With a brand new chapter, charting Trump's first year in power**As the BBC’s North America Editor, Jon Sopel has had a pretty busy time of it lately. In the time it’s taken for a reality star to go from laughing stock to leader of the free world, Jon has travelled the length and breadth of the United States, experiencing it from a perspective that most of us could only dream of: he has flown aboard Air Force One, interviewed President Obama and has even been described as ‘a beauty’ by none other than Donald Trump.Through music, film, literature, TV and even through the food we eat and the clothes that we wear we all have a highly developed sense of what America is and through our shared, tangled history we claim a special relationship. But America today feels about as alien a country as you could imagine. It is fearful, angry and impatient for change.In this fascinating, insightful portrait of American life and politics, Jon Sopel sets out to answer our questions about a country that once stood for the grandest of dreams, but which is now mired in a storm of political extremism, racial division and increasingly perverse beliefs.Trade ReviewJon Sopel may be the sanest man in America. He is certainly one of the most insightful … Immensely enjoyable * Bill Bryson *Jon Sopel nails it … If Only They Didn’t Speak English is an entertaining and enlightening stock take of how we got here. * Emily Maitlis, Presenter, BBC Newsnight *A wonderfully readable, perceptive account of what America looks like today through the eyes of a seasoned, informed but ultimately sympathetic observer. He addresses head-on such difficult questions as why it is America's most God-fearing opponents of abortion who are also the most passionate supporters of the gun lobby and the death penalty. He reminds us that President Trump's "America First" policy is nothing new – but that America made an invaluable contribution to Western Europe's defence of its liberty in two world wars. And he describes graphically how US Presidential politics became Reality TV in 2016, leaving us, rightly, with a deep sense of unease about the way fake facts and bare-faced lies, often encouraged by enemies of democracy abroad, now pose a real threat to the survival of our values and institutions. Read it alongside the late, great Lynne Olson's Citizens of London and J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy. * Sir Peter Westmacott, Former British Ambassador to the United States *Jon Sopel tries to explain the madness of Trump's America with an elegant sense of stoic bewilderment. Brilliant * Emma Kennedy, Actress, Writer and Broadcaster *

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Book SynopsisThere has been an explosion of organising among workers many assumed to be unorganisable, from delivery drivers in London to tech workers in Silicon Valley. The culmination of years of conversations on picket lines, in community centres, and in union offices, with workers in Britain, the US, India, Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, and across Europe, Troublemaking brings together lessons from around the world. Precarious workers waste collectors in Mumbai show that no worker is "unorganisable", cleaner organising at LSE and St Mary's hospital in London and Sans-papier workers in France indicate that demanding more at work can lead to big wins. Struggles like The Water Wars in Cochabamba, Bolivia show how we can use our power beyond the workplace.From these movements, Lydia Hughes and Jamie Woodcock draw a number of lessons about why organising at work is the first step in building another world. They put forward three principles for organising. First, the need for action. Struggles can change the world, but they also change people who go through them. Rather than using action as a last resort, we need action to build a movement. Second, the need to build the rank-and-file of unions. Power comes from organising at work, not in trusting others to do it on our behalf. Third, democracy matters in organising. This is not only about winning, but also developing the confidence to build another kind of world. This is not a "how to" guide, but a set of principles for the politics of organising.Trade ReviewAn inspiring and compelling case for workplace organizing - and the radical politics we need to rebuild a powerful workers' movement. -- Eric Blanc, author of Red State RevoltNo advance for working people has been achieved without troublemaking and a read of this book will turn many more into effective troublemakers. Drawing on the hard fought struggles of workers to organise and mobilise in recent times the book not only inspires but also explains concisely how our economic system operates and how it can be challenged successfully. -- John McDonnell MPTroublemaking makes clear through real, lived examples in the book that we can learn from past workers' struggles and how looking at previous tactics and strategies can inform our actions today. -- Sarah Woolley, General Secretary, Bakers Food and Allied Workers UnionTroublemaking provides inspiring examples of workers struggles and puts them in the context of the nature of work under capitalism and the fight to transform society. It makes a powerful case for troublemaking at work and building workers' rank and file power. -- Ian Allinson, workplace activist and author of Workers Can Win! A Guide to Organising At WorkTroublemaking is a unique guide to the path from today's struggles to a socialist future that can help inspire a new generation of workplace and union activists to set foot on that risky road. -- Kim Moody, a founder of Labor Notes and author of Breaking the Impasse: Electoral Politics, Mass Action & The New Socialist Movement in the United StatesA galvanising book ... as timely as it is lucid. -- Mark Fisher * The Journalist *[Troublemaking] is undeniably hopeful. Through spotlighting historical examples of political struggles where workers' organisations have played a key role, it demonstrates the potential for our current period of renewed trade union militancy to turn into something greater. -- Laura Hone * Red Pepper *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"An Economist Book of the Year""A Behavioral Scientist's Notable Book""A Wall Street Journal Favorite Political Book of the Year""A FiveBooks Best Nonfiction Books of the Year""Winner of the Richard A. Lester Book Award, Industrial Relations Section Industrial Relations Section""Career and Family is a radical book. It is also brilliantly researched and argued."---Lily Meyer, New Republic"[Career and Family] looks at how women have struggled to balance work and home over the decades. Among its many takeaways is the notion that female participation in the workplace changes the very nature of work."---Rana Foroohar, Financial Times"Goldin weaves together complicated data sets that no one else thought to look at. . . . [She] brings such data to life."---Joan C. Williams, Times Literary Supplement"There are many reasons to read [Career and Family]. The main one being that [it is] excellent. . . . Goldin is a natural teacher, which comes across on the page. The book is also, in some ways, deeply personal."---Emily Oster, ParentData"Provocative and compelling." * The Economist *"[Career and Family] traces the history of work and family for college-educated women, and diagnoses what still troubles their careers today." * The Economist *"In this deeply researched, engagingly written, and surprisingly personal book, Goldin summarizes the history and current state of gender disparities in employment and pay, both in general and specifically for college-educated women."---Barry Eichengreen, Foreign Affairs"This is no ordinary book. . . . Goldin has written a chatty, readable sequel to [Betty] Friedan’s [The Feminine Mystique], destined itself to become a paperback best-seller—all the more persuasive because it is rooted in the work of hundreds of other labor economists and economic historians over the years."---David Warsh, Economic Principals"Combining diligent research with acute observations, accessible case studies, and practical solutions, this is a refreshing take on a pernicious social problem." * Publishers Weekly *"A must-read for those who care about gender gaps. . . . Goldin does a compelling job of running through the historical data, providing the surrounding cultural context, and explaining how technological and legal changes affected women over the years. . . . In Career and Family, Goldin expertly lays out the history of college-grad women’s advances in the work force, and she carefully dissects where the remaining gender gap originates."---Robert VerBruggen, Institute for Family Studies"This book is a must-read."---Melissa Davies, Society of Professional Economists"Goldin’s research carries important implications for addressing gender equality within the economics profession."---Leonora Risse, The Conversation, Australia & New Zealand"Why do women still tend to earn less than men? There is nobody better placed to answer that question than economic historian Claudia Goldin, the winner of the 2023 Nobel memorial prize in economics. Her answer tells us how to fight unfairness, but also how to create saner and more productive working lives for everybody." * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisAn Evening Standard's Book of the Year'A tour de force.' David GoodhartAll over the West, party systems have shattered and governments have been thrown into turmoil. The embattled establishment claims that these populist insurgencies seek to overthrow liberal democracy. The truth is no less alarming but is more complex: Western democracies are being torn apart by a new class war.In this controversial and groundbreaking analysis, Michael Lind, one of America's leading thinkers, debunks the idea that the insurgencies are primarily the result of bigotry and reveals the real battle lines. He traces how the breakdown of class compromises has left large populations in Western democracies politically adrift. We live in a globalized world that benefits elites in high income 'hubs' while suppressing the economic and social interests of those in more traditional lower-wage 'heartlands'.A bold framework for understanding the world, The New Class War argues that only a fresh class settlement can avert a never-ending cycle of clashes between oligarchs and populists - and save democracy.Trade ReviewSharply argued... Lind's book offers a bracing, and at times brilliant, polemic. * Edward Luce, FT *Lind's diagnosis is sharp and insightful... an invaluable contribution to understanding the political currents of our times and placing them in a historical context. Long after we have stopped talking about Trump and Brexit, the challenges Lind identifies will define our debate. * The Times *[Lind's] primary thesis is correct, and his tome contains a myriad of powerful insights and brilliant vignettes. * Allister Heath, Daily Telegraph *Lind's argument is compelling and clear. * Sunday Times *The best analysis of populism I have yet read, including a brilliant put-down of the absurd idea that the Russians are destabilising our politics. * Evening Standard *A tour de force. In a pithy, but subtle, analysis of western politics Lind argues that populism is a reaction against a technocratic neoliberalism that has stripped non-college-educated workers of economic bargaining power, political influence and cultural dignity. * David Goodhart – bestselling author of The Road to Somewhere *Hard-hitting, compelling and ultimately convincing. A lot has been written about the current era of political turbulence, but a lot of this work misses the mark. If you want to beat the populists, start here. * Matthew Goodwin – Professor of Politics at the University of Kent *Does it seem to you that Western society is coming apart, in ways that you don't understand? If so, then you must read this book. Lind's insights are so profound that I found myself highlighting almost every paragraph. * Jonathan Haidt, bestselling author of The Righteous Mind *Vital reading. Michael Lind is one of America's great iconoclasts. * Roger Eatwell – Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Bath *A brave and timely book. Michael Lind has written an indispensable guide to our present political backdrop. By linking geography and class through the concepts of 'hubs and heartlands', he develops a generous understanding of the appeal of sovereignty and democratic politics to working class people who have been excluded from not only power, but participation in their national politics. * Maurice Glasman, founder of Blue Labour *Excellent... If you want to understand the political defeat of liberalism and the coming realignment in capitalist democracies read this book. * Jonathan Rutherford, emeritus professor of cultural studies at Middlesex University. *Table of Contents0: Introduction 1: The New Class War 2: Hubs and Heartlands 3: World Wars and New Deals 4: The Neoliberal Revolution from Above 5: The Populist Counterrevolution from Below 6: Russian Puppets and Nazis 7: The Workerless Paradise 8: Countervailing Power 9: Making the World Safe for Democratic Pluralism 10: Epilogue

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Book SynopsisNow a Major FilmYou pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever.'Anne Elliot is persuaded to reject a marriage proposal from handsome Captain Wentworth because he lacks rank or fortune. But when he returns home from the Navy, more than seven years later, Anne realises she still has strong feelings for him, despite the fact that his attentions have now turned towards her friend.Moving, tender and intrinsically Austen' in style, with its satirical portrayal of society in eighteenth-century England, Persuasion is a story of heartache and missed opportunities, and a celebration of enduring love and hope.

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Book SynopsisThe essential new book from the authors of the international bestseller The Spirit Level''Why are people, particularly young people, experiencing increasing levels of mental illness and distress? Highly readable and authoritative, The Inner Level shows clearly how social anxieties and the problems they lead to rise steadily in richer, more unequal societies'' Clare Short, The Tablet, Books of the YearWhy is the incidence of mental illness in the UK twice that in Germany? Why are Americans three times more likely than the Dutch to develop gambling problems? Why is child well-being so much worse in New Zealand than Japan? As this groundbreaking study demonstrates, the answer to all these hinges on inequality.In The Spirit Level Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett put inequality at the centre of public debateby showing conclusively that less-equal societies fare worse than more equal ones across everythingfrom educatioTrade ReviewThe question of inequality is likely to play a bigger role in the next election than it has for more than a generation. It would be better for all of us if that debate was informed by robust statistical analysis rather than the emotive politics of envy. Any politician wishing to do so would be wise to read Wilkinson and Pickett's books. -- Andrew Anthony * Observer *It holds the reader's attention by elaborating a phenomenon most will already have observed, and by providing an explanation for the dysfunction they see around them, from the brazen disregard for rules among many corporate and political leaders to the nihilism of drug addicts and school-shooters * Economist *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review'This is a wonderful book, and an unusual addition to the gardening shelf. It reveals the democracy of gardening and its being both a craft and an art – a mixture of hard labour and passion. Margaret Willes's book shows how people with no money and little time to themselves produced riches on small plots – little paradises, even. How begging, borrowing (and stealing), they would create wealths of flowers and food, and find joy in doing so. How gardening would become their chosen taskmaster – and their deliverer. Willes's history is a constant statement of how green fingers have transformed lives. The book is a delight.' - Ronald Blythe, author of Akenfield 'An encyclopaedic and enjoyable read, so well written and so informative that it should appeal to anyone interested in history and horticulture.' - Bob Flowerdew, regular panel member of BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time 'Garden historians characteristically focus on the gardens of grand houses and their makers. By contrast, this is an intriguing study of an often overlooked area of both horticultural and social history. Through dauntingly energetic research, Margaret Willes has produced a colourful and remarkably detailed account of how a passion for flower and vegetable gardening has enriched the lives of millions.' - Michael Leapman, author of One Man and His Plot‘…in this wonderfully rich study, Margaret Willes reveals the forgotten history of Britain’s working-class horticulturalists’—PD Smith, the Guardian. -- P.D. Smith * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisThe concept of everyday struggles can enliven our understanding of the lives of young people and how social class is made and remade. This book invokes a Bourdieusian spirit to think about the ways young people are pushed and pulled by the normative demands directed at them from an early age, whilst they reflexively understand that allegedly available incentives for making the right' choices and working hard financial and familial security, social status and job satisfaction are a declining prospect. In Youth, Class and Everyday Struggles, the figures of those classed as ''hipsters'' and ''bogans'' are used to analyse how representation works to form a symbolic and moral economy that produces and polices fuzzy class boundaries. Further to this, the practices of young people around DIY cultures are analysed to illustrate struggles to create a satisfying and meaningful existence while negotiating between study, work and creative passions. By thinkiTrade Review‘Struggle’ is one of those over-used words we use to evoke a political ‘feel’ to analysis. In Youth, Class and Everyday Struggles, however, Steven Threadgold takes the idea of struggle seriously, and develops a multi-layered understanding of struggle to provide an exciting and insightful analysis of the challenges young people negotiate in everyday life. Drawing together a thoughtful reading of Bourdieu through theories of affect, risk and reflexivity, Threadgold shows that struggle is fundamental to the constitution of young people’s classed and gendered existence in a world shaped by precarity. Through an examination of hipsters, 'bogans' and DIY music, the book argues not only that there are modalities and temporalities to struggle, but that struggle is creative and mundane, agentic and oppressive. It offers an original and thought-provoking contribution to the field of youth studies.Greg Noble, Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, AustraliaA smart, sensitive and sophisticated analysis of how youth figures in the ways class is produced and contested in conditions of precarity. Centring the concept of struggle, Threadgold incisively addresses the cultural politics and quotidian material realities of new and old class relations through careful attention to the everyday lives of young people. This book is an important contribution to the theorisation of social class today, and a shining example of truly generative scholarship at the intersection of youth transitions and youth cultures research.​Anita Harris, Research Professor, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Faculty of Arts & Education, Deakin University, AustraliaThis is an excellent book that pushes the boundaries of theorising in youth studies to another level. By using the notion of ‘struggle’ and other Bourdieusian concepts, Steve Threadgold is able to create a more nuanced understanding of the contemporary forms of class social reproduction and youth reflexivity. As such this book is a must read for all students and scholars interested in the youth question.Alan France, Professor of Sociology, University of Auckland, New ZealandYouth, Class and Everyday Struggles is a masterfully researched and compellingly written book. Casting an expert eye over an increasingly diverse field, Threadgold has produced a much needed synthesis of key ideas relating to youth cultures and youth transitions that will be of seminal value to both experienced youth researchers and students in search of a critical introduction to youth studies. Andy Bennett, Professor, School of Humanities, Griffith University, AustraliaTable of ContentsPart 1: Youth studies and theoretical foundationsA mix tape for Part 11. Youth, class and everyday strugglesIntroductionYouthClassBourdieu’s ‘struggles’Chapter outline2. Sociological practice: Towards a Bourdieusian understandingIntroduction: Bourdieu’s thinking toolsBourdieu’s conception of class Struggle, illusio and social gravitySocial games and strategy Habitus and fieldCapitalsTrajectoryDoxa and misrecognitionSymbolic violenceCultural arbitraryDistinctionConclusion 3. Bourdieusian prospects and theory in youth studiesIntroductionReflexivity and inequalityThe symbolic, the moral and ‘value’Affect and emotionConclusion Part 2: Classification struggles in the field of representationA mix tape for Part 24. Hipsters and bogans: Distinctive figures of classed anxietiesIntroductionHipsters and bogans in the newsSlippery categoriesWhat is a bogan? What is a hipster?Hipsters and bogans as ‘figures’Classification struggles in the field of representationConclusion5. Hipsters and bogans in the news media and comedy: Two case studiesIntroductionCase study 1Case study 2The affective economy of hipsters and bogansConclusion: Global hipsters and local bogansPart 3: DIY cultures: Struggles about creativity, identity and meaningful workA mix tape for Part 36. A DIY scene: Cultural struggles and meaning makingIntroduction‘DIY’: From punk to sociology to co-optation and beyondEveryday struggles in a DIY music scene in AustraliaConclusion7. A DIY career? Labour and creativity strugglesIntroductionClass, labour and creativityDIY cultures to DIY careersSubcultural capital and illusioChoice, struggle and making do: Strategic poverty?Conclusion8. Coda: Hipsters, bogans and class in the DIY scene 9. Conclusion IntroductionModalities of everyday struggleBourdieu, affect and reflexivityYouth, modalities of struggle and the ‘future’

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Book SynopsisWhat do we mean by social class in the 21st century?University of Brighton sociologists Laura Harvey and Sarah Leaney and award-winning comics creator Danny Noble present an utterly unique, illustrated journey through the history, sociology and lived experience of class.What can class tell us about gentrification, precarious work, the role of elites in society, or access to education? How have thinkers explored class in the past, and how does it affect us today? How does class inform activism and change?Class: A Graphic Guide challenges simplistic and stigmatising ideas about working-class people, discusses colonialist roots of class systems, and looks at how class intersects with race, sexuality, gender, disability and age. From the publishers of the bestselling Queer: A Graphic History, this is a vibrant, enjoyable introduction for students, community workers, activists and anyone who wants to understand how class functions in their own lives.

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Book SynopsisThis much revised and reorganized edition of Intellectuals and Society is more than half again larger than the first edition. Four new chapters have been added on intellectuals and race, including a chapter on race and intelligence. These new chapters show the radically different views of race prevailing among the intelligentsia at the beginning of the twentieth century and at the end- and yet how each of these opposite views of race had the same dogmatic quality and the same refusal to countenance differing opinions among their contemporaries, much less engage dissenting opinions in serious debate. Moreover, each of these very different views of race produced flourishes of rhetoric and travesties of logic, leading to dire social consequences, though of very different sorts in the two eras. Other additions to this edition include a critique of John Rawls'' conception or justice and a re-examination of the so-called trickle-down theory behind tax cuts for the rich. There are other revisions, from the preface to the final chapter, the latter being extensively rewritten to bring together and highlight the themes of the other chapters, and to make unmistakably clear what Intellectuals and Society is, and is not, seeking to do.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewKent Flannery and Joyce Marcus have done a remarkable job in synthesizing the two key disciplines of social anthropology and archaeology, and their book represents a significant advance in our understanding of the evolution of complex societies. -- Peter Turchin * Times Literary Supplement *This is a work of profound importance… [It] yields insights into a multitude of societies in the recent and prehistoric past… Flannery and Marcus’s magnum opus… [This] is a deeply impressive achievement. -- Steven Mithen * London Review of Books *Extraordinarily erudite… It would be an excellent addition to collections on the rise of civilization or on how to use the data gathered by cultural anthropologists and archaeologists to understand broad patterns of social change. Professionals in the field will also benefit from this tour de force by two of archaeology’s most provocative scholars. -- L. L. Johnson * Choice *This provocative work, likely to become an important contribution to the literature of social and political anthropology, will be of interest both to scholars in the field and to anthropology and archaeology enthusiasts seeking understanding of the development and perpetuation of inequality in human societies. -- Elizabeth Salt * Library Journal *The origin of inequality is one of the most basic questions about human societies. We all arose from egalitarian hunter/gatherer ancestors. Why, then, do almost all of us poor peasants now tolerate affluent leaders, whether they are democratically elected presidents or military dictators? In this clear, readable survey, the distinguished archaeologists Kent Flannery and Joyce Marcus extract the answers by comparing the histories of societies over the whole world for the last 10,000 years. This book will become the standard account of long-term political evolution. -- Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel and CollapseBy carefully articulating and integrating archaeological and ethnographic data, Flannery and Marcus present a panoramic view of the development of particular cultures in various parts of the world. Moreover, in selecting case studies the authors have gone beyond the familiar examples so often cited in anthropology textbooks. The Creation of Inequality promises to be a landmark work. -- Robert L. Carneiro, Ph.D., Curator Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Anthropology, Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural HistoryFlannery and Marcus are two of the most distinguished anthropological archaeologists in the world. The Creation of Inequality distills two lifetimes of work on the origin and evolution of complex societies throughout the ancient world. This work brings much of this together in an eminently readable and fascinating way. -- Charles S. Stanish, Ph.D., Director, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, and Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles

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