Summer Reading
by Sara Forrest
‘Not The End of The World’ by Hannah Ritchie
If your young ones are worried about Climate Change and you want to be able to reassure them then ‘Not The End of The World’ by Hannah Ritchie is a good read.
Remember how we succeeded in closing the ozone layer?
Talks about the importance of political will to make things happen and contains some surprising facts about the impact of our individual decisions.
We are bombarded by doomsday headlines that tell us the soil won’t be able to support crops, fish will vanish from our oceans, that we should reconsider having children.
But in this bold, radically hopeful book, data scientist Hannah Ritchie argues that if we zoom out, a very different picture emerges. The data shows we’ve made so much progress on these problems, and so fast, that we could be on track to achieve true sustainability for the first time in history.
Packed with the latest research, practical guidance and enlightening graphics, this book will make you rethink almost everything you’ve been told about the environment, from the virtues of eating locally and living in the countryside, to the evils of overpopulation, plastic straws and palm oil. It will give you the tools to understand what works, what doesn’t and what we urgently need to focus on so we can leave a sustainable planet for future generations.
These problems are big. But they are solvable. We are not doomed. We can build a better future for everyone. Let’s turn that opportunity into reality.
‘Fluke’ by Brian Klaas
In ‘Fluke’ by Brian Klaas you get an explanation of why so many forecasts, predictions and polls don’t get it right. (The world is too complex.)
And that is why we should look behind the headlines and question data presented in a way that drives an emotional response (populism) to make better decisions and live better lives.
It’s not as dry as it sounds!
Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters:
In Fluke, myth-shattering social scientist Brian Klaas deep-dives into the phenomenon of randomness, unpicking our neat and tidy storybook version of events to reveal a reality far wilder and more fascinating than we have dared to consider.
The bewildering truth is that but for a few incidental changes, our lives – and our societies – would be radically different. Offering an entirely new perspective, Fluke explores how our world really works, driven by strange interactions and random events.
How much difference does our decision to hit the snooze button make?
Did one couple’s vacation really change the course of the twentieth century?
What are the smallest accidents that have tilted the course of history itself?
‘Great Britain? How We get Our Future Back’ by Torsten Bell
‘Great Britain? How We get Our Future Back’ by Torsten Bell is a readable explanation of how decades of under-investment by both UK Government and private organisations has stalled our economy.
A book for someone who is perhaps fed up with the Government.
The Generation Wars and Housing chapters are particularly thought provoking.
An essential blueprint for a better future, from the leading economist & Labour rising star
‘Stellar: brilliant, incredibly pragmatic’ Rory Stewart
‘Refreshingly optimistic’ The Times
‘No one has done more to re-inject sanity into our national policy’ Emily Maitlis
There are few who are better placed to investigate Britain’s plight than Torsten Bell, Labour MP for Swansea West and former Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation.
In Great Britain? he offers both a clear-eyed diagnosis of the problems facing our country – a uniquely toxic combination of huge inequality and stagnant economic growth – and a bold vision for the alternative. This is a book bursting with ideas and infectious hope.
In his treasure trove of enlightening and original analysis, Torsten Bell argues that our era of chaos and cynicism needs neither utopianism nor nostalgia, but a practical patriotism to raise living standards and create a more equal country. He passionately points us towards a Britain that we can actually build – a future worth fighting for.
‘A roadmap to the new normal’ Observer
‘Pretty cool … the think tank work I raved about on The Rest Is Politics has morphed into a book’ Alastair Campbell
‘A dose of Torstenomics is the only thing that can give us hope’ Amol Rajan
‘Spiced with wit, masterful, fact-packed’ Polly Toynbee
**A FINANCIAL TIMES AND OBSERVER BEST BOOK OF 2024**
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