-Titulo Original : The Story Of More How We Got To Climate Change And Where To Go From Here-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: The essential pocket primer on climate change that will leave an indelible impact on everyone who reads it. “Hope Jahren asks the central question of our time: how can we learn to live on a finite planet? (Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction).“Hope Jahren is the voice that science has been waiting for.” -NatureHope Jahren is an award-winning scientist, a brilliant writer, a passionate teacher, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this earth. In The Story of More, she illuminates the link between human habits and our imperiled planet. In concise, highly readable chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions-from electric power to large-scale farming to automobiles-that, even as they help us, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere like never before. She explains the current and projected consequences of global warming-from superstorms to rising sea levels-and the actions that we all can take to fight back. At once an explainer on the mechanisms of global change and a lively, personal narrative given to us in Jahren’s inimitable voice, The Story of More is “a superb account of the deadly struggle between humanity and what may prove the only life-bearing planet within ten light years (E. O. Wilson). Review “[Hope Jahren] leads us on a journey across time and space, outlining thoughts and beliefs from Mesopotamia to her tiny Minnesota hometown. Along the way she discusses the impact of everything from population growth to Norwegian fishing to nuclear power. She takes this approach in order to present climate change as a result of broader dysfunctions having to do with consumption habits that, she says, don’t even make us happy.... It’s an argument that contrasts with the recent spate of climate books, which opt to pummel readers with facts and guilt. Jahren, who first came to prominence with the best-selling memoir “Lab Girl,” instead writes delicately, like the whispery scrape of a skate tracing a figure on the ice.” -The New York Times Book Review “If there’s one book all of us should read about the state of the environment, it’s this one.... [Jahren] pulls off the feat of presenting climate change without emotional baggage through accessibility and humor.” -The Washington Independent Review of Books“Hope Jahren asks the central question of our time: how can we learn to live on a finite planet? The Story of More is thoughtful, informative, and-above all-essential.”-Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction “A concise and personal yet universally applicable examination of a problem that affects everyone on planet Earth.... [Jahren] doesn’t use scare tactics or shrill warnings.... She clearly shows how the amount of waste created by the privileged could provide plenty for those less privileged.”-Kirkus Reviews “Hope Jahren is an awesome writer and scientist. Her new book, The Story of More, is captivating and compelling. She urges readers to be courageous dealing with global environmental changes and human population growth.” -Dudley Herschbach, Nobel Prize-winning chemist “The Story of More is a superb account of the deadly struggle between humanity and what may prove the only life-bearing planet within ten light years, written in a brilliantly sardonic and conversational style.” -E. O. Wilson About the Author HOPE JAHREN is an award-winning scientist who has been pursuing independent research in paleobiology since 1996. Recognized by Time in 2016 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, she is the recipient of three Fulbright Awards and served as a tenured professor at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu from 2008 to 2016, where she built the isotope geobiology laboratories. She currently holds the J. Tuzo Wilson professorship at the University of Oslo, Norway. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 1 Our Story Begins The sun and solar energy. What a source of po...

-Titulo Original : Empire Of Cotton A Global History-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: WINNER OF THE BANCROFT PRIZE * A Pulitzer Prize finalist thats as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist.“Masterly … An astonishing achievement.” -The New York Times The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners. Sven Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities that are with us today.In a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful politicians recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to make and remake global capitalism. Review Winner of the Alfred and Fay Chandler Book Award“Masterly.... Deeply researched and eminently readable, Empire of Cotton gives new insight into the relentless expansion of global capitalism. With graceful prose and a clear and compelling argument, Beckert not only charts the expansion of cotton capitalism ... he addresses the conditions of enslaved workers in the fields and wage workers in the factories. An astonishing achievement.”-Thomas Bender, New York Times “Important.... a major work of scholarship that will not be soon surpassed as the definitive account of the product that was, as Beckert puts it, the Industrial Revolution’s ‘launching pad.’” -Adam Hochschild, New York Times Book Review “Breathtakingly comprehensive, informative and provocative.” -Glenn C. Altschuler, Tulsa World “Persuasive ... brilliant ... Beckert’s detailed narrative never scants the rich complexity of the cotton trade’s impact on many different societies.” -Wendy Smith, Boston Globe “Empire of Cotton proves Sven Beckert one of the new elite of genuinely global historians. Too little present-day academic history is written for the general public. ‘Empire of Cotton’ transcends this barrier and should be devoured eagerly, not only by scholars and students but also by the intelligent reading public. The book is rich and diverse in the treatment of its subject. The writing is elegant, and the use of both primary and secondary sources is impressive and varied. Overviews on international trends alternate with illuminating, memorable anecdotes.... Beckert’s book made me wish for a sequel.” -Daniel Walker Howe, The Washington Post “Momentous and brilliant ... Empire of Cotton is among the best nonfiction books of this year.” -Karen R. Long, Newsday “Compelling ... Beckert demonstrates persuasively how the ravenous cotton textile trade in Europe was instrumental in the emergence of capitalism and draws a direct line from the practices that nourished this empire to similar elements in the production of goods for today’s massive international retailers. Those who long to know more about how and why slavery took hold in Europe, Africa and the Americas will find this book to be immensely enlightening. Better still, those who live out the troubled legacy of the exploitation and enslavement of workers in the service of the cotton empire will find in it added inspiration for their continuing efforts to realize a just and more equitable society.” -Ruth Simmons, President Emeritus of Brown University “Intellectually ambitious ... a masterpiece of the historian’s craft.” -Timothy Shenk, The Nation “A highly detailed, provocative work.” -Booklist “Hefty, informative, and engaging ... Beckert’s narrative skills keep the story of capitalism fresh and interesting for all readers.” -Publishers Weekly “[Beckert’s] close-up study of the cotton economy is a valuable model for the study of capitalism generally, an economic system in which slavery and colonialism were not outliers but instead integral to the whole ... a valuable contribution.” -Kirkus Reviews “Fascinating and pr...

-Titulo Original : The New Silk Roads The New Asia And The Remaking Of The World Order-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: From the bestselling author of The Silk Roads comes an updated, timely, and visionary book about the dramatic and profound changes our world is undergoing right now-as seen from the perspective of the rising powers of the East. All roads used to lead to Rome. Today they lead to Beijing. So argues Peter Frankopan in this revelatory new book.In the age of Brexit and Trump, the West is buffeted by the tides of isolationism and fragmentation. Yet to the East, this is a moment of optimism as a new network of relationships takes shape along the ancient trade routes. In The New Silk Roads, Peter Frankopan takes us on an eye-opening journey through the region, from Chinas breathtaking infrastructure investments to the flood of trade deals among Central Asian republics to the growing rapprochement between Turkey and Russia. This important book asks us to put aside our preconceptions and see the world from a new-and ultimately hopeful-perspective. Review Provocative reading for students of geopolitical and economic trends looking for a glimpse at the new world to come. -Kirkus“Masterly mapping out of a new world order. . . . Peter Frankopan has gone up in the world since his bestselling Silk Roads history was published to great acclaim in 2015-and deservedly so.” -Justin Marozzi, Evening Standard “Frankopan has written another valuable and idiosyncratic book. He has the gift of perspective-the capacity to see the wood for the trees-which he combines with a Tolstoyan knack for weaving little details into the broader sweep of human affairs.” -Jamie Susskind, The Daily Telegraph “Frankopan is a brilliant guide to terra incognita.” -Niall Ferguson, Sunday Times “A pacy, bang-up-to-date exploration of how China’s commercial and political heft is changing the way the world works.” -James Kynge, Financial Times “Frankopan has written as prescient a modern history as possible . . . . [His] skill is that he able to step back a few more paces from the world map and global events than most modern commentators, whilst encouraging us to use history as a way of looking forward than regressing into the past.” -Joseph Wilkins, Total Politics “A compelling, accessible account of the shift in global economic power. . . . For anyone with an interest in global politics.” -Nicole Abedee, Financial Review “If you are only going to read one non-fiction book in the coming year, let it be The New Silk Roads by Dr. Frankopan. . . . This book has all the answers and some more.” -Qudsia Sajjad, News on Sunday[D]iverting, eclectic and has serious intent. Its thesis that Eurasia is developing a sense of cohesion, largely powered by China’s restless ambition, is a sound one. -Roger Boyes, The Times“Entertaining. . . . Peter Frankopan has a sharp eye for startling facts, and no reader will leave The New Silk Roads with her sense of the state of the world unchanged.” -Richard Drayton, Times Literary Supplement A state of the world address. . . . Energetic . . . pin-sharp, up-to-date. -Ben East, The National (UAE) About the Author PETER FRANKOPAN is professor of global history at Oxford University. He is the author of The First Crusade: The Call from the East and The Silk Roads: A New History of the World. He lives in Oxford. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The Roads to the East Twenty-five years ago, when I was about to leave university, the world seemed a different place. The Cold War was over, leading to hopes for peace and prosperity. “The heroic deeds of Boris Yeltsin and the Russian people” had steered Russia onto a course of reform and democracy, said President Bill Clinton at a meeting with the Russian president in Vancouver in 1993. The prospect of a “newly productive and prosperous Russia” was good for everyone, he noted. Hopeful times lay ahead too in South Africa, where fraught negotiations to end apartheid had advanced sufficiently for the Nobel committ...

-Titulo Original : The Dreamt Land Chasing Water And Dust Across California-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: A vivid, searching journey into Californias capture of water and soil-the epic story of a peoples defiance of nature and the wonders, and ruin, it has wroughtMark Arax is from a family of Central Valley farmers, a writer with deep ties to the land who has watched the battles over water intensify even as California lurches from drought to flood and back again. In The Dreamt Land, he travels the state to explore the one-of-a-kind distribution system, built in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, that is straining to keep up with Californias relentless growth.The Dreamt Land weaves reportage, history and memoir to confront the Golden State myth in riveting fashion. No other chronicler of the West has so deeply delved into the empires of agriculture that drink so much of the water. The nations biggest farmers-the nut king, grape king and citrus queen-tell their story here for the first time.Arax, the native son, is persistent and tough as he treks from desert to delta, mountain to valley. What he finds is hard earned, awe-inspiring, tragic and revelatory. In the end, his compassion for the land becomes an elegy to the dream that created California and now threatens to undo it. Review “[An] exhaustive, deeply reported account. . . . Few other journalists could have written a book as personal and authoritative. . . . As Arax makes plain in this important book, its been the same story in California for almost two centuries now: When it comes to water, ‘the resource is finite. The greed isnt.’” -Gary Krist, The New York Times Book Review“There’s a new history of water use in California that’s fantastic. It’s called The Dreamt Land. It’s like John McPhee-level writing. It’s really worth it for the writing alone.” -Linda Ronstadt“A mesmerizing new book that examines the nation’s most populous state through the prism of its most valuable resource: water. Call author Mark Arax, an award-winning journalist, historian and native son of the Central Valley, a Steinbeck for the 21st century.” -Andy Kroll, Rolling Stone“The Dreamt Land is Arax’s grand history of California water, beginning before Spanish arrival and following the trail of man-made decisions that exacerbate the present. . . . Everyone can go back to pretending the land has been tamed as the fields and orchards once again expand. The Dreamt Land leaves us with the question: When the next dry spell comes, will we have gone too far?” -Gregory Barber, Wired“Compelling and widely appealing. . . . Part of the genius of Arax’s book is how it juxtaposes California’s settlement history with today’s conflicts. The Dreamt Land shows that California’s water war is a long game in which formidable players have staked their ground and simply wait for the right combination of opportunity and luck to press their advantage.” -Ann Willis, California Water Blog Arax narrates this tumultuous history skillfully. . . . Water, land and the conjunction of the two have inspired some of California’s most powerful writing: Didion, Mary Austin’s lyrical The Land of Little Rain, Norris Hundley’s authoritative The Great Thirst, William Kahrl’s gorgeous, shamefully out-of-print The California Water Atlas, and, jumping genres, Chinatown, with its water-crazed Mephistopheles, Noah Cross. The Dreamt Land earns its place alongside them.” -Peter Fish, The San Francisco Chronicle“In his sprawling, provocative book The Dreamt Land, journalist Mark Arax examines Californias long-building water crisis with the keen, loving, troubled eye of a native son. . . . The Dreamt Land assumes an urgent, personal tone and incorporates history, memoir and the lives of larger-than-life personalities. Taken together, it is a story biblical in scope and cautionary in tenor. -Gerard Helferich, The Wall Street Journal“Former L.A. Times reporter Mark Arax makes a riveting case that this expanse-450 miles lengthwise from Shasta to Tehachapi; 60 miles across from the Sierra Nevada to the Coastal Range-a...

-Titulo Original : On The Beach-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Nevil Shute’s most powerful novel-a bestseller for decades after its 1957 publication-is an unforgettable vision of a post-apocalyptic world.After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way and bringing certain death to everyone in its path. Among them is an American submarine captain struggling to resist the knowledge that his wife and children in the United States must be dead. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from somewhere near Seattle, and Captain Towers must lead his submarine crew on a bleak tour of the ruined world in a desperate search for signs of life. Both terrifying and intensely moving, On the Beach is a remarkably convincing portrait of how ordinary people might face the most unimaginable nightmare. Review “The most haunting evocation we have of a world dying of radiation after an atomic war.” -The New York Times “The most shocking fiction I have read in years. What is shocking about it is both the idea and the sheer imaginative brilliance with which Mr. Shute brings it off.” -San Francisco Chronicle“A novelist of intelligent and engaging quality, deservedly popular. . . . Nevil Shute was, in brief, the sort of novelist who genuinely touches the imagination and feeling.” -The Times (London) About the Author Nevil Shute Norway was born in 1899 in Ealing, London. He studied Engineering Science at Balliol College, Oxford. Following his childhood passion, he entered the fledgling aircraft industry as an aeronautical engineer working to develop airships and, later, airplanes. In his spare time he began writing and he published his first novel, Marazan, in 1926, using the name Nevil Shute to protect his engineering career. In 1931 he married Frances Mary Heaton and they had two daughters. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve where he worked on developing secret weapons. After the war he continued to write and settled in Australia where he lived until his death in 1960. His most celebrated novels include Pied Piper (1942), A Town Like Alice (1950), and On the Beach (1957). Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. CHAPTER ONELieutenant-Commander Peter Holmes of the Royal Australian Navy woke soon after dawn. He lay drowsily for a while, lulled by the warm comfort of Mary sleeping beside him, watching the first light of the Australian sun upon the cretonne curtains of their room. He knew from the suns rays that it was about five oclock: very soon the light would wake his baby daughter Jennifer in her cot, and then they would have to get up and start doing things. No need to start before that happened; he could lie a little longer.He woke happy, and it was some time before his conscious senses realised and pinned down the origin of this happiness. It was not Christmas, because that was over. He had illuminated the little fir tree in their garden with a string of coloured lights with a long lead to the plug beside the fireplace in the lounge, a small replica of the great illuminated tree a mile away outside the Town Hall of Falmouth. They had had a barbecue in the garden on the evening of Christmas Day, with a few friends. Christmas was over, and this-his mind turned over slowly-this must be Thursday the 27th. As he lay in bed the sunburn on his back was still a little sore from their day on the beach yesterday, and from sailing in the race.. He would do well to keep his shirt on today. And then, as consciousness came fully to him, he realised that of course he would keep his shirt on today. He had a date at eleven oclock in the Second Naval Members office, in the Navy Department up in Melbourne. It meant a new appointment, his first work for five months. It could even mean a seagoing job if he were very lucky, and he ached for a ship again.It meant work, anyway. The thoug...

-Titulo Original : The Money Game-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: This is a modern classic. -Paul A. Samuelson, First American Nobel Prize Winner in Economics The best book there is about the stock market and all that goes with it. -The New York Times Book Review Anyone whose orientation is toward where the action is, where the happenings happen, should buy a copy of The Money Game and read it with due diligence. -Book World Adam Smith is a veteran observer and commentator on the events and people of Wall Street.... His thorough knowledge of financial affairs gives his observations a great degree of authenticity. But the joy of reading this book comes from his delightful sense of humor. He is a lively and ingeniously witty writer who never stoops to acerbity. None of the solemn, sacred cows of Wall Street escapes debunking. -Library Journal Review This is a modern classic. -Paul A. Samuelson, First American Nobel Prize Winner in EconomicsThe best book there is about the stock market and all that goes with it. -The New York Times Book ReviewAnyone whose orientation is toward where the action is, where the happenings happen, should buy a copy of The Money Game and read it with due diligence. -Book World Adam Smith is a veteran observer and commentator on the events and people of Wall Street.... His thorough knowledge of financial affairs gives his observations a great degree of authenticity. But the joy of reading this book comes from his delightful sense of humor. He is a lively and ingeniously witty writer who never stoops to acerbity. None of the solemn, sacred cows of Wall Street escapes debunking. -Library Journal About the Author The Money Game, written by one who signs himself Adam Smith (and who some believe is Harvard-and-Oxford-trained George J. W. Goodman), is a modern-day classic. Like many modern paintings, the book looks simple. But as W. Somerset Maugham said about an unforgettable Mondrian abstraction: It looks as though you had only to take a ruler, a tube of black paint and a tube of red, and you could do the thing yourself. Try! -Professor Paul A. Samuelson, First American Nobel Prize Winner in Economics.Everyone who is anyone in U.S. investment already knows about Adam Smith, wrote Newsweek. Adam Smith is also the author of Supermoney and Powers of Mind...

-Titulo Original : The Attention Merchants The Epic Scramble To Get Inside Our Heads-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: From the author of the award-winning The Master Switch, who coined the term net neutrality”-a revelatory, ambitious and urgent account of how the capture and re-sale of human attention became the defining industry of our time. Dazzling. -Financial Times Ours is often called an information economy, but at a moment when access to information is virtually unlimited, our attention has become the ultimate commodity. In nearly every moment of our waking lives, we face a barrage of efforts to harvest our attention. This condition is not simply the byproduct of recent technological innovations but the result of more than a centurys growth and expansion in the industries that feed on human attention. Wu’s narrative begins in the nineteenth century, when Benjamin Day discovered he could get rich selling newspapers for a penny. Since then, every new medium-from radio to television to Internet companies such as Google and -has attained commercial viability and immense riches by turning itself into an advertising platform. Since the early days, the basic business model of “attention merchants” has never changed: free diversion in exchange for a moment of your time, sold in turn to the highest-bidding advertiser. Full of lively, unexpected storytelling and piercing insight, The Attention Merchants lays bare the true nature of a ubiquitous reality we can no longer afford to accept at face value. Review One of the Best Books of the YearThe San Francisco Chronicle * The Philadelphia Inquirer * Vox * The Globe and Mail (Toronto)“Vigorous, entertaining.... Wu describes how the rise of electronic media established human attention as perhaps the world’s most valuable commodity.” -The Boston Globe“The Attention Merchants is a book of our time, touching on an emerging strain of anxiety about the information age.... A bracing intellectual tour de force.” -The San Francisco Chronicle“Comprehensive and conscientious, readers are bound to stumble on ideas and episodes of media history that they knew little about. [Wu] writes with elegance and clarity, giving readers the pleasing sensation of walking into a stupendously well-organized closet.” -The New York Times “A startling and sweeping examination of the increasingly ubiquitous commercial effort to capture and commodify our attention.... We’ve become the consumers, the producers, and the content. We are selling ourselves to ourselves.” -The New Republic “The book is studded with sharp illustrations of those who have tried to stop the encroachment of advertising on our lives, and usually failed.... Wu dramatizes this push and pull to great effect.” -The New York Times Book Review“An engaging history of the attention economy.... [Wu] wants to show us how our current conditions arose.” -The Washington Post “Dazzling.... [Wu] could hardly have chosen a better time to publish a history of attention-grabbing.... He traces a sustained march of marketers further into our lives.” -The Financial Times “ [An] erudite, energizing, outraging, funny and thorough history of one of humanitys core undertakings-getting other people to care about stuff that matters to you.” -Boing Boing “Engaging and informative.... [Wu’s] account ... is a must-read.” -The Washington Times About the Author TIM WU is a policy advocate and professor at Columbia Law School. In 2006, Scientific American named him one of fifty leaders in science and technology; in 2013, National Law Journal included him among “America’s 100 Most Influential Lawyers”; and in 2014 and 2015, he was named to the “Politico 50.” He won the Lowell Thomas Gold medal for travel journalism and is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times...

-Titulo Original : Chinas Second Continent How A Million Migrants Are Building A New Empire In Africa-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: A New York Times Notable Book Chinese immigrants of the recent past and unfolding twenty-first century are in search of the African dream. So explains indefatigable traveler Howard W. French, prize-winning investigative journalist and former New York Times bureau chief in Africa and China, in the definitive account of this seismic geopolitical development. China’s burgeoning presence in Africa is already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. From Liberia to Senegal to Mozambique, in creaky trucks and by back roads, French introduces us to the characters who make up China’s dogged emigrant population: entrepreneurs singlehandedly reshaping African infrastructure, and less-lucky migrants barely scraping by but still convinced of Africa’s opportunities. French’s acute observations offer illuminating insight into the most pressing unknowns of modern Sino-African relations: Why China is making these cultural and economic incursions into the continent; what Africa’s role is in this equation; and what the ramifications for both parties and their people-and the watching world-will be in the foreseeable future.One of the Best Books of the Year at * The Economist * The Guardian * Foreign Affairs Review “Extraordinary…French delves into the lives of some of the one million-plus Chinese migrants he says are now building careers in Africa…and the stories [he] tells are fascinating.”-The New York Times Book Review“Riveting…As a massive transactional process, China’s entry into Africa has been a dramatic success...but as an ideological and cultural undertaking, Mr. French’s masterly account suggests that it is getting nowhere.”-The Economist“Howard French…let[s] the Africans and Chinese speak for themselves as he travels through fifteen countries. The result is a rich, complex, and satisfying look at this strange marriage.”-The New York Review of Books“In his important new book, French weaves a rich tapestry of anecdotes, interspersed with numerous interviews with Chinese migrants and Africans alike, offering readers an eminently fair, occasionally humorous and sympathetic, but always engaging account….A searing, trenchant, and entertaining study of how China, in both an individual and collective sense, is shrewdly and opportunistically maximizing its relationships with African nations in an effort to extend its economic influence across the world. ”-The Christian Science Monitor“China’s trade with Africa has grown dramatically…But China’s investments…are less significant for this rapidly evolving relationship, according to this 15-country survey by veteran African correspondent French, than the significant flow of new Chinese immigrants-often pushed out by the pressure and oppression back home as much as lured by opportunity. In vivid first-person reportage, French explores this momentous phenomenon, while challenging assumptions about China and Chinese immigrants…The book will appeal to students of China and Africa, and anyone interested in the shifting contours of the global economy and its geopolitical consequences.”-Publishers Weekly“Although several recent books have discussed…China’s recent incursions into Africa in pursuit of resources and profit,…French has the advantage of significant personal experience in both Africa and China….Interacting with Chinese and Africans in Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Namibia, and elsewhere, French capably illustrates that although Chinese omnipresence in Africa may be a form of soft imperialism, it is also a result of the crushing pressures-lack of space, merciless business competition, pollution-of modern Chinese society.”-Booklist“Accounts of China’s foray into African markets are often made with numbers; French goes beyond the statistics and illuminates the accelerating involvement of Chinese migrants….These candid moments are arresting, delivered via seasoned and sensitive reporting.”-Democracy“Every once in a while, an author produces a work o...

-Titulo Original : The Age Of Empire 1875-1914-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Review Its sheer power and eloquence will make this book a classic. -Neal, Ascherson, Sunday Observer (London)It is Mr. Hobsbawms achievement both to have captured the exuberance of an age, and to have shown how and why that world was coming to an end. . . . He not only captures the age of empire he also illuminates the course of the twentieth century. -Kennedy, The Economist (London)A virtuoso performance. . . . Few, if any, present practitioners of the historians craft can equal. the astonishing range and dazzling erudition of Mr. Hobsbawms scholarship. -David M. Kennedy, The New York Times Book ReviewA splendid answer to those critics who complain that academic historians no longer write readable prose. . . . The great strength of this book is the way in which what seems in so many ways a wholly vanished epoch is related to our situation today. -James Joll, The New York Review of Books Erica Hobsbawm discusses the evolution of European economics, politics, arts, sciences, and cultural life from the height of the industrial revolution to the First World War. Hobsbawm combines vast erudition with a graceful prose style to re-create the epoch that laid the basis for the twentieth century. From Publishers Weekly In this sequel to The Age of Capital , the author probes the contradictions of a largely tranquil age that stood on the brink of global slaughter. Hobsbawms delvings possess a breadth and depth that few historians have equaled, and this wide-ranging chronicle is essential to our understanding of a modern world divided into hostile camps, praised PW. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. From the Publisher A virtuoso performance...Few, if any, present practitioners of the historians craft can equal the astonishing range and dazzling craft of Mr. Hobsbawms scholarship. --The New York Times Book ReviewA splendid answer to those critics who complain that academic historians no longer write readable prose...The great strength of this book is the way in which what seems in so many ways a wholly vanished epoch is related to our situation today.--The New York Review of Books From the Inside Flap Discusses the evolution of European economics, politics, arts, sciences, and cultural life from the height of the industrial revolution to the First World War. From the Back Cover Discusses the evolution of European economics, politics, arts, sciences, and cultural life from the height of the industrial revolution to the First World War. About the Author Born in 1917, Eric Hobsbawm was educated in Austria, Germany, and England. He was Emeritus Professor of history at Birbeck College, University of London, and Emeritus Universtiy Professor of politics and socity at the New School for Social Research. He is the author of more than fourteen books, including The Age of Capital, The Age of Revolution, The Age of Extremes, and The Jazz Scene. He died in 2012...

-Titulo Original : The Age Of Capital 1848-1875-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: In this book, Eric Hobsbawm chronicles the events and trends that led to the triumph of private enterprise and its exponents in the years between 1848 and 1875. Along with Hobsbawms other volumes, this book constitutes and intellectual key to the origins of the world in which we now live. Although it pulses with great events-failed revolutions, catastrophic wars, and a global depression-The Age of Capital is most outstanding for its analyis of the trends that created the new order. With the sweep and sophistication that have made him one of our greatest historians, Hobsbawm indentifies this epochs winners and losers, its institutions, ideologies, science, and religion. Review Eric Hobsbawm is one of the few genuinely great historians of our century. -The New RepublicBrilliant. . . . [This period] must be understood from a global perspective. Hobsbawm is at his best when he dissects the bourgeois culture of repectability. -The New York Times Book ReviewOne of the great achievements of historical writing in recent decades. -The New York Review of Books About the Author Born in 1917, Eric Hobsbawm was educated in Austria, Germany, and England. He was Emeritus Professor of history at Birbeck College, University of London, and Emeritus Universtiy Professor of politics and socity at the New School for Social Research. He is the author of more than fourteen books, including The Age of Revolution, The Age of Empire, The Age of Extremes, and The Jazz Scene. He died in 2012...

-Titulo Original : The Embarrassment Of Riches An Interpretation Of Dutch Culture In The Golden Age-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: From the Back Cover Schama explores the mysterious contradictions of the Dutch nation that invented itself from the ground up, attained an unprecedented level of affluence, and lived in constant dread of being corrupted by happiness. Drawing on a vast array of period documents and sumptuously reproduced art, Schama re-creates in precise detail a nations mental state. He tells of bloody uprisings and beached whales, of the cult of hygiene and the plague of tobacco, of thrifty housewives and profligate tulip-speculators. He tells us how the Dutch celebrated themselves and how they were slandered by their enemies. History on the grand scale...An ambitious portrait of one of the most remarkable episodes in modern history.--New York Times Wonderfully inclusive; with wit and intense curiosity he teases out meaning from every aspect of Dutch seventeenth-century life.--Robert Hughes Schama explores the mysterious contradictions of the Dutch nation that invented itself from the ground up, attained an unprecedented level of affluence, and lived in constant dread of being corrupted by happiness. Drawing on a vast array of period documents and sumptuously reproduced art, Schama re-creates in precise detail a nations mental state. He tells of bloody uprisings and beached whales, of the cult of hygiene and the plague of tobacco, of thrifty housewives and profligate tulip-speculators. He tells us how the Dutch celebrated themselves and how they were slandered by their enemies. History on the grand scale...An ambitious portrait of one of the most remarkable episodes in modern history.--New York TimesWonderfully inclusive; with wit and intense curiosity he teases out meaning from every aspect of Dutch seventeenth-century life.--Robert Hughes From the Inside Flap Schama explores the mysterious contradictions of the Dutch nation that invented itself from the ground up, attained an unprecedented level of affluence, and lived in constant dread of being corrupted by happiness. Drawing on a vast array of period documents and sumptuously reproduced art, Schama re-creates in precise detail a nations mental state. He tells of bloody uprisings and beached whales, of the cult of hygiene and the plague of tobacco, of thrifty housewives and profligate tulip-speculators. He tells us how the Dutch celebrated themselves and how they were slandered by their enemies. History on the grand scale...An ambitious portrait of one of the most remarkable episodes in modern history.--New York TimesWonderfully inclusive; with wit and intense curiosity he teases out meaning from every aspect of Dutch seventeenth-century life.--Robert Hughes About the Author Simon Schama is University Professor of Art History and History at Columbia University in New York. His publications include Patriots and Liberators, The Embarrassment of Riches, Citizens, Dead Certainties, Landscape and Memory, and Rembrandts Eyes...

-Titulo Original : Saving Capitalism For The Many, Not The Few-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Now a Netflix Original DocumentaryAmerica was once celebrated for and defined by its large and prosperous middle class. Now, this middle class is shrinking, a new oligarchy is rising, and the country faces its greatest wealth disparity in eighty years. Why is the economic system that made America strong suddenly failing us, and how can it be fixed? Leading political economist and bestselling author Robert B. Reich presents a paradigm-shifting, clear-eyed examination of a political and economic status quo that no longer serves the people, exposing one of the most pernicious obstructions to progress today: the enduring myth of the “free market” when, behind the curtain, it is the powerful alliances between Washington and Wall Street that control the invisible hand. Laying to rest the specious dichotomy between a free market and “big government,” Reich shows that the truly critical choice ahead is between a market organized for broad-based prosperity and one designed to deliver ever more gains to the top. Visionary and acute, Saving Capitalism illuminates the path toward restoring America’s fundamental promise of opportunity and advancement. Review Praise for Robert B. Reich’s Saving CapitalismA Publishers Weekly Business & Economics Top 10 selection for Fall 2015Ambitious. . . . Reich makes a very good case that widening inequality largely reflects political decisions that could have gone in very different directions. . . . Saving Capitalism is a very good guide to the state we’re in. -The New York Review of Books“If you want to understand why income and wealth inequality are the economic, political, and moral issues of our time, you must read this book. Robert Reich is one of the best economists in modern American history. This book is a roadmap on how to rebuild the middle class and fix a rigged economy that has been propped up by a corrupt campaign finance system.” -United States Senator Bernie Sanders“[A] sweeping treatise on inequality in America. . . . A rallying call.” -The New York Times Book Review“One of Reich’s finest works, and is required reading for anyone who has hope that a capitalist system can indeed work for the many, and not just the few.” -Salon“Like any good teacher, Robert Reich knows that making a simple yet crucial idea stick often takes much time and many presentations of the concept. . . . In Saving Capitalism, Reich drives home a basic fact that, if widely understood, could lift America from today’s destructive political standoff.” -Chicago Tribune“A well-written, thought-provoking book by one of America’s leading economic thinkers and progressive champions.” -The Huffington Post“Engrossing. . . . [Reich] is calmly articulate, not alarmist; yet a sense of urgency pulses through his unambiguous prose.” -The Argonaut (Los Angeles)“Audacious. . . . Offers a pragmatic reform-filled path forward. . . . [Reich takes] on the very language used by the business world that perpetuates the myth that the private sector exists as magical sphere entirely unrelated to government.” -EcoWatch“Reich has both the stature and eloquence to make a compelling case. His sharply argued critique is therefore highly recommended to all readers. . . . Insightful.” -Library Journal (starred review)“An arresting, thought-provoking treatise on the need to reverse the trend of income inequality in the U.S. . . . Reich’s powerful final argument is that Americans need to rid themselves of the idea that it’s too late to change their economy.” -Publishers Weekly“An accessible examination of how the ‘apparent arbitrariness and unfairness of the economy [has] undermined the public’s faith in its basic tenets’. . . . The author takes a measured view even as he argues against free market orthodoxies, [and] he arrives at some innovative reforms. . . . Reich’s overriding message is that we don’t have to put up with things as they are. It’s a useful and necessary one.” -Kirkus Reviews“This is an important a...

-Titulo Original : Money The Unauthorized Biography--from Coinage To Cryptocurrencies-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Review Praise for Money:Finalist for Guardian First Book AwardMoney is often held to have arisen as a solution to the shortcomings of barter: traders needed a universally acceptable medium of exchange. In this lively history-cum-polemic, Martin says that the theory is entirely false, and that the essence of monetary exchange is not the swapping of goods and services for this commodity medium but a system of credit accounts and their clearing.Compulsively readable . . . Money is a fascinating and entertaining pep talk for bankers, economists and armchair revolutionaries dissatisfied with the current financial system, and an attempt to galvanize them into action.- Heidi N. Moore, New York Times Book Review“Felix Martins remarkable book asks the big question: do economists have any idea what money is? His compelling answer is: no. You may not agree with the answer. But it will certainly force you to think.”-Martin Wolf, author of Why Globalization Works “Felix Martin has written a wonderfully original and entertaining history of money. If you have ever wondered why the whole system seems so dangerously and chronically unstable, this is the book to read.”-Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lords of Finance “Felix Martin’s remarkable book Money is economic history-and indeed cultural anthropology-with a difference . . . his sparkling book is worth taking seriously.”-Raymond Tallis, Prospect An excellent book . . . Full of interesting history and insight . . . a beautiful and sometimes even entrancing study of human thought about money.-Tyler Cowen, Times Literary SupplementBlending history and economic analysis in his engaging first book, economist and bond investor Martin explains the development of sovereign currency and its critically important function in modern economies. . . Martin approaches his subject in entertaining fashion, discussing monetarism and monetary theory, from John Locke to the Federal Reserve System. . . Fluent, discursive, and informed. It holds considerable appeal for investors, their bankers, and those drawn to the mechanics of wealth.-Publishers Weekly[A] critical essay fizzing with ideas.”-Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph “Stimulating and timely.”-David Priestland, Guardian “The virtue of Martin’s book is that it exposes the deep flaws in the way we have traditionally thought about money. The exposition is clear . . . Fresh.”-Alex Brummer, New Statesman “Felix Martin condenses the broadest of subjects into a searing and potentially life-changing read that destroys all accepted knowledge of this thing we sell our souls for.”-Shortlist “So replete with literary and historical examples that the story almost tells itself . . . a lucid, colorful introduction to 3,000 years of monetary history.”-Martin Sandbu, Financial Times “[Martin] wants to change the way you think about money. He rejects the textbook idea that it’s an alternative to barter, the oil in the engine of the world economy. He sees money as a liberating (though unstable) system of creating and exchanging credit. This original and thought-provoking history of what’s in your wallet also offers some controversial solutions to the financial crisis, such as raising inflation levels and writing off national debts.”-The Guardian (UK) Summer Book Roundup “A most accessible and thrilling read. If you want to read just one book about money, this is it.”-Ha-Joon Chang “Combines breadth of scholarship with a wealth of practical experience in tackling the most elusive of economic subjects-the nature of money.”-John Kay “Magnificent-hugely imaginative, clear, coherent.”-Robert Skidelsky[I]n this improbably lively account [...] Martin seeks a deeper understanding, relating money especially to power [...] Refreshingly free of jargon and long on ideas-including the thought that if it’s money that got us into our current mess, it’s money that can get us out of it.-Kirkus What is money, and how ...

-Titulo Original : Religion And The Rise Of Capitalism-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: From one of the nations preeminent experts on economic policy, a major reassessment of the foundations of modern economic thinking that explores the profound influence of a previously unrecognized force-religion.An original and brilliant new perspective on the terrifying divisions of our own times. No book could be more important.” -George A. Akerlof, Nobel laureate in economics Critics of contemporary economics complain that the commitment to free markets is a form of religion. As it turns out, there is something to this claim-but in a deeper, more historically grounded sense. Contrary to the conventional view of economics as an entirely secular product of the Enlightenment, Benjamin M. Friedman demonstrates that religion has exerted a powerful influence from the outset. Beginning in the eighteenth century, hotly contended lines of religious thought within the English-speaking Protestant world decisively shaped what we now call economics. Friedman immerses us in the eras debates about God-given human character, the afterlife, and the purpose of our existence. These deep religious influences also go far in explaining the puzzling behavior of those today whose views seem sharply at odds with what would be to their own economic benefit. As one of the nation’s preeminent thinkers on economic policy, Friedman provides fascinating insights into our current debates by exploring the little-recognized force of religion. Review “Once theological questions are rendered into secular language, their relevance, and thus the importance of Friedman’s Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, becomes clear . . . This overview cannot even begin to pay homage to the prodigious research informing Friedman’s analysis. He covers not only the main thinkers in both economics and theology, but also the less-well-known ones who helped shape their thought. He can credibly discuss the philosophy of John Locke and the science of Isaac Newton. As one reads Friedman, words like “magisterial,” “masterpiece” and “magnificent” floated through my thoughts . . . If someone had told me that a former chairman of the Harvard economics department would write a major work on Calvinism and its influence, you would have had to consider me a skeptic. Nonetheless Friedman has, and the result is an awakening all its own.”-Alan Wolfe, The New York Times Book Review“Friedman has made an important contribution to the literature on the intertwining of Western economic thought with religious beliefs. His detailed tracing of the philosophical and theological roots of free market economics is well researched, well written, and well worth reading.”-Carol Elsen, Library Journal (starred review)“A bracing challenge to narrowly secular assessments of economic theory.”- Bryce Christensen, Booklist (starred review)“Of the many factors that went into the construction of the modern economic worldview undergirding capitalism, Friedman has successfully added religion back into the causal equation.”-Michael Shermer, The American Scholar “Ben Friedman’s Religion and the Rise of Capitalism is an expansive and intricate tapestry depicting the progression and interaction of ideas and events in economics and (mainly Protestant) religion across four centuries. The richness of the woven strands does not obscure the thematic integrity of the book’s central argument.”-Bruce MacLaury, President Emeritus, The Brookings Institution “Religion and the Rise of Capitalism takes longstanding debates over religion and capitalism in a surprising new direction. Benjamin Friedman makes his case with the erudition and particularity of a leading academic economist. His arguments are sure to generate new thinking and debate from all sides.”-Christopher DeMuth, Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute “Ben Friedmans fascinating and impressive account of the interaction of economics and religion combines both mastery of the history of economic theory and a profound engagement wit...

-Titulo Original : The Image A Guide To Pseudo-events In America-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: About the Author Daniel J. Boorstin was the author of The Americans, a trilogy (The Colonial Experience; The National Experience, and The Democratic Experience) that won the Francis Parkman Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize. In 1989, he received the National Book Award for lifetime contribution to literature. He was the director of the Smithsonians National Museum of American History, and for twelve years served as the Librarian of Congress. He died in 2004. First published in 1962, this wonderfully provocative book introduced the notion of “pseudo-events”-events such as press conferences and presidential debates, which are manufactured solely in order to be reported-and the contemporary definition of celebrity as “a person who is known for his well-knownness.” Since then Daniel J. Boorstin’s prophetic vision of an America inundated by its own illusions has become an essential resource for any reader who wants to distinguish the manifold deceptions of our culture from its few enduring truths. Review Praise for Daniel J. Boorstins The Image“A very informative and entertaining and chastising book.” -Harper’s “A book that everyone in America should read every few years. Stunning in its prescience, it explains virtually every aspect of our mass medias evolution and seductiveness.” -Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize winning author of A Visit From the Goon Squad “An engrossing book-sensitive, thoughtful, damning, dead on target and in most respects unanswerable.” -Scientific American “Excellent. . . It is the book to end all books about ‘The American Image’-what it is, who projects it, what effect it has at home or abroad.” -The Observer “A brilliant and original essay about the black arts and corrupting influences of advertising and public relations.”-The Guardian“Boorstin’s book tells us how to see and listen, and how to think about what we see and hear.”-George Will From the Inside Flap First Published In 1962, This Wonderfully Provocative Book Introduced The Notion Of pseudo-events -- Events Such As Press Conferences And Presidential Debates, Which Are Manufactured Solely In Order To Be Reported -- And The Contemporary Definition Of Celebrity As a Person Who Is Known For His Well-knownness. Since Then Daniel J. Boorstins Prophetic Vision Of An America Inundated By Its Own Illusions Has Become An Essential Resource For Any Reader Who Wants To Distinguish The Manifold Deceptions Of Our Culture From Its Few Enduring Truths. From the Back Cover First Published In 1962, This Wonderfully Provocative Book Introduced The Notion Of pseudo-events -- Events Such As Press Conferences And Presidential Debates, Which Are Manufactured Solely In Order To Be Reported -- And The Contemporary Definition Of Celebrity As a Person Who Is Known For His Well-knownness. Since Then Daniel J. Boorstins Prophetic Vision Of An America Inundated By Its Own Illusions Has Become An Essential Resource For Any Reader Who Wants To Distinguish The Manifold Deceptions Of Our Culture From Its Few Enduring Truths...

-Titulo Original : The Master Switch The Rise And Fall Of Information Empires-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter 1Exactly forty years before Bells National Geographic banquet, Alexander Bell was in his laboratory in the attic of a machine shop in Boston, trying once more to coax a voice out of a wire. His efforts had proved mostly futile, and the Bell Company was little more than a typically hopeless start-up.Bell was a professor and an amateur inventor, with little taste for business: his expertise and his day job was teaching the deaf. His main investor and the president of the Bell Company was Gardiner Green Hubbard, a patent attorney and prominent critic of the telegraph monopoly Western Union. It is Hubbard who was responsible for Bells most valuable asset: its telephone patent, filed even before Bell had a working prototype. Besides Hubbard, the company had one employee, Bells assistant, Thomas Watson. That was it.If the banquet revealed Bell on the cusp of monopoly, here is the opposite extreme from which it began: a stirring image of Bell and Watson toiling in their small attic laboratory. It is here that the Cycle begins: in a lonely room where one or two men are trying to solve a concrete problem. So many revolutionary innovations start small, with outsiders, amateurs, and idealists in attics or garages. This motif of Bell and Watson alone will reappear throughout this account, at the origins of radio, television, the personal computer, cable, and companies like Google and Apple. The importance of these moments makes it critical to understand the stories of lone inventors.Over the twentieth century, most innovation theorists and historians became somewhat skeptical of the importance of creation stories like Bells. These thinkers came to believe the archetype of the heroic inventor had been over-credited in the search for a compelling narrative. As William Fisher puts it, Like the romantic ideal of authorship, the image of the inventor has proved distressingly durable. These critics undeniably have a point: even the most startling inventions are usually arrived at, simultaneously, by two or more people. If thats true, how singular could the genius of the inventor really be?There could not be a better example than the story of the telephone itself. On the very day that Alexander Bell was registering his invention, another man, Elisha Gray, was also at the patent office filing for the very same breakthrough.* The coincidence takes some of the luster off Bells eureka. And the more you examine the history, the worse it looks. In 1861, sixteen years before Bell, a German man named Johann Philip Reis presented a primitive telephone to the Physical Society of Frankfurt, claiming that with the help of the galvanic current, [the inventor] is able to reproduce at a distance the tones of instruments and even, to a certain degree, the human voice. Germany has long considered Reis the telephones inventor. Another man, a small-town Pennsylvania electrician named Daniel Drawbaugh, later claimed that by 1869 he had a working telephone in his house. He produced prototypes and seventy witnesses who testified that they had seen or heard his invention at that time. In litigation before the Supreme Court in 1888, three Justices concluded that overwhelming evidence proved that Drawbaugh produced and exhibited in his shop, as early as 1869, an electrical instrument by which he transmitted speech. . . .There was, it is fair to say, no single inventor of the telephone. And this reality suggests that what we call invention, while not easy, is simply what happens once a technologys development reaches the point where the next step becomes available to many people. By Bells time, others had invented wires and the telegraph, had discovered electricity and the basic principles of acoustics. It lay to Bell to assemble the pieces: no mean feat, but not a superhuman one. In this sense, inventors are often more like craftsmen than miracle workers.Indeed, the history of scie...

-Titulo Original : When Work Disappears The World Of The New Urban Poor-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Wilson, one of our foremost authorities on race and poverty, challenges decades of liberal and conservative pieties to look squarely at the devastating effects that joblessness has had on our urban ghettos. Marshaling a vast array of data and the personal stories of hundreds of men and women, Wilson persuasively argues that problems endemic to Americas inner cities--from fatherless households to drugs and violent crime--stem directly from the disappearance of blue-collar jobs in the wake of a globalized economy. Wilsons achievement is to portray this crisis as one that affects all Americans, and to propose solutions whose benefits would be felt across our society. At a time when welfare is ending and our countrys racial dialectic is more strained than ever, When Work Disappears is a sane, courageous, and desperately important work.Wilson is the keenest liberal analyst of the most perplexing of all American problems...[This book is] more ambitious and more accessible than anything he has done before.--The New Yorker From the Inside Flap Wilson, one of our foremost authorities on race and poverty, challenges decades of liberal and conservative pieties to look squarely at the devastating effects that joblessness has had on our urban ghettos. Marshaling a vast array of data and the personal stories of hundreds of men and women, Wilson persuasively argues that problems endemic to Americas inner cities--from fatherless households to drugs and violent crime--stem directly from the disappearance of blue-collar jobs in the wake of a globalized economy. Wilsons achievement is to portray this crisis as one that affects all Americans, and to propose solutions whose benefits would be felt across our society. At a time when welfare is ending and our countrys racial dialectic is more strained than ever, When Work Disappears is a sane, courageous, and desperately important work.Wilson is the keenest liberal analyst of the most perplexing of all American problems...[This book is] more ambitious and more accessible than anything he has done before.--The New Yorker From the Back Cover Wilson, one of our foremost authorities on race and poverty, challenges decades of liberal and conservative pieties to look squarely at the devastating effects that joblessness has had on our urban ghettos. Marshaling a vast array of data and the personal stories of hundreds of men and women, Wilson persuasively argues that problems endemic to Americas inner cities--from fatherless households to drugs and violent crime--stem directly from the disappearance of blue-collar jobs in the wake of a globalized economy. Wilsons achievement is to portray this crisis as one that affects all Americans, and to propose solutions whose benefits would be felt across our society. At a time when welfare is ending and our countrys racial dialectic is more strained than ever, When Work Disappears is a sane, courageous, and desperately important work. Wilson is the keenest liberal analyst of the most perplexing of all American problems...[This book is] more ambitious and more accessible than anything he has done before.--The New Yorker About the Author William Julius Wilson is the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University. He is also the author of Power, Racism, and Privilege; The Declining Significance of Race; The Truly Disadvantaged; and The Bridge Over the Racial Divide. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts...

-Titulo Original : The Making Of The English Working Class-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: A seminal text on the history of the working class by one of the most important intellectuals of the twentieth century. During the formative years of the Industrial Revolution, English workers and artisans claimed a place in society that would shape the following centuries. But the capitalist elite did not form the working class-the workers shaped their own creations, developing a shared identity in the process. Despite their lack of power and the indignity forced upon them by the upper classes, the working class emerged as England’s greatest cultural and political force. Crucial to contemporary trends in all aspects of society, at the turn of the nineteenth century, these workers united into the class that we recognize all across the Western world today. E.P. Thompson’s magnum opus, The Making of the English Working Class defined early twentieth-century English social and economic history, leading many to consider him Britain’s greatest postwar historian. Its publication in 1963 was highly controversial in academia, but the work has become one of the most influential social commentaries every written. From the Inside Flap ons book has been called controversial, but perhaps only because so many have forgotten how explosive England was during the Regency and the early reign of Victoria. Without any reservation, The Making of the English Working Class is the most important study of those days since the classic work of the Hammonds.--CommentaryMr. Thompsons deeply human imagination and controlled passion help us to recapture the agonies, heroisms and illusions of the working class as it made itself. No one interested in the history of the English people should fail to read his book.--London Times Literary Supplement From the Back Cover ons book has been called controversial, but perhaps only because so many have forgotten how explosive England was during the Regency and the early reign of Victoria. Without any reservation, The Making of the English Working Class is the most important study of those days since the classic work of the Hammonds.--CommentaryMr. Thompsons deeply human imagination and controlled passion help us to recapture the agonies, heroisms and illusions of the working class as it made itself. No one interested in the history of the English people should fail to read his book.--London Times Literary Supplement About the Author E.P. (Edward Palmer) Thompson was born in England in 1924 and graduated from Cambridge in 1946 with a degree in history. The Making of the English Working Class was instantly recognized as a classic upon its publication in 1963 and secured his position as one of the most influential historians of the twentieth century. Thompson was also a fervent activist and a key figure in the ending of the Cold War. He died in 1993...

-Titulo Original : Elastic Unlocking Your Brains Ability To Embrace Change-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: The best-selling author of Subliminal and The Drunkard’s Walk teaches you how to tap into the hidden power of your brain. “Elastic is a book that will help you survive the whirlwind.” -Daniel H. Pink, author of When and A Whole New MindNamed to the 800-CEO-READ Business Book Awards Longlist In this startling and provocative look at how the human mind deals with change, Leonard Mlodinow shows us to unleash the natural abilities we all possess so we can thrive in dynamic and troubled times. Truly original minds capitalize when everyone else struggles. And most of us assume that these abilities are innate, reserved for a select few. But Mlodinow reveals that we all possess them, that we all have encoded in our brains a skill he terms elastic thinking-and he guides us in how to harness it. Drawing on groundbreaking research, Mlodinow outlines how we can learn to let go of comfortable ideas and become accustomed to ambiguity and contradiction; how we can rise above conventional mindsets and reframe the questions we ask; and how we can improve our ability to solve problems and generate new ideas-critical skills for achieving professional and personal success in our quickly morphing world. Review “Absorbing. . . . [Mlodinow] skillfully weaves scientific findings with stories of people, events, and the natural world.” -The New York Times Book Review“Leonard Mlodinow will make you smarter.” -Seth MacFarlane “Ingenious . . . top-quality popular neuroscience.” -Kirkus Reviews“Incorporating the most recent developments in psychology and neuroscience, award-winning science writer Mlodinow. . . elucidates how the human mind evolved a cognitive style he names ‘elastic thinking.’ . . . Fantastically accessible science writing. . . . Of particular interest to those wishing to understand how to cope with the pace of change in the modern world.”-Library Journal (starred review) “Timely and engrossing. Elastic is a fascinating exploration of one of the most important topics: how the human mind deals with change. If you liked Subliminal, you’ll love Elastic.” -Charles Duhigg, author of the best sellers The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better “It’s easy to describe the dizzying changes in our midst-from the gushers of information that wash over us to a world grown ever more interconnected. Far harder is to offer guidance on how we should respond. In this wise and persuasive book, Leonard Mlodinow calls for a change in the very way we think. Using a deft mix of science and storytelling, he shows the limits of linear thinking and the promise of ‘bottom up’ thinking that embraces ambiguity, asks the shrewd questions, and pursues novel answers to complex problems. Elastic is a book that will help you survive the whirlwind.”-Daniel H. Pink, author of WHEN and A WHOLE NEW MINDA fascinating, useful look into how the brain works. Perfect for neophiliacs and everyone else whos dealing with a changing world.” -Seth Godin, author of Footprints on the Moon“In a world in which advancing technologies, omnipresent social media, and fiery political landscapes can make us feel helpless and paralyzed, Mlodinow shows us how our most human traits, such as novelty seeking and free-range imagination, have uniquely prepared us to thrive in an increasingly complex and ever-changing world. Most important, in the groundbreaking book he shows us how to make the best use of our most basic human talents to find true happiness and success.” -Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology, Harvard University, and author of the New York Times best seller Super Brain“A book of sparkling intelligence, written with humor and grace. If you read only one book of accessible science this year, let this be the one.” -Mark Williams, author of Mindfulness, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford About the Author LEONARD MLODINOW’s previous books include the best sellers Subliminal (w...

-Titulo Original : Antitrust Taking On Monopoly Power From The Gilded Age To The Digital Age-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Antitrust enforcement is one of the most pressing issues facing America today-and Amy Klobuchar, the widely respected senior senator from Minnesota, is leading the charge. This fascinating history of the antitrust movement shows us what led to the present moment and offers achievable solutions to prevent monopolies, promote business competition, and encourage innovation. In a world where Google reportedly controls 90 percent of the search engine market and Big Pharma’s drug price hikes impact healthcare accessibility, monopolies can hurt consumers and cause marketplace stagnation. Klobuchar-the much-admired former candidate for president of the United States-argues for swift, sweeping reform in economic, legislative, social welfare, and human rights policies, and describes plans, ideas, and legislative proposals designed to strengthen antitrust laws and antitrust enforcement. Klobuchar writes of the historic and current fights against monopolies in America, from Standard Oil and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to the Progressive Eras trust-busters; from the breakup of Ma Bell (formerly the worlds biggest company and largest private telephone system) to the pricing monopoly of Big Pharma and the future of the giant tech companies like , Amazon, and Google. She begins with the Gilded Age (1870s-1900), when builders of fortunes and rapacious robber barons such as J. P. Morgan, John Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt were reaping vast fortunes as industrialization swept across the American landscape, with the rich getting vastly richer and the poor, poorer. She discusses President Theodore Roosevelt, who, during the Progressive Era (1890s-1920), busted the trusts, breaking up monopolies; the Clayton Act of 1914; the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914; and the Celler-Kefauver Act of 1950, which it strengthened the Clayton Act. She explores todays Big Pharma and its price-gouging; and tech, television, content, and agriculture communities and how a marketplace with few players, or one in which one company dominates distribution, can hurt consumer prices and stifle innovation. As the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, Klobuchar provides a fascinating exploration of antitrust in America and offers a way forward to protect all Americans from the dangers of curtailed competition, and from vast information gathering, through monopolies. Review “An impressive work of scholarship, deeply researched . . . highly informative and surprisingly readable in the bargain.”-Liaquat Ahamed, The New York Times Book Review “Senators rarely write books, and when they do, they tend to be political memoirs. But Klobuchar’s Antitrust is a serious and important contribution that will help build momentum for reform . . . Throughout, she references her own proposed legislation on the topic. And as Klobuchar is chair of the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on competition policy, antitrust, and consumer rights, her proposals are likely to be one of the starting points for reform.”-The New Republic “Methodical . . . Klobuchar furnishes an overview of the evolution of U.S. anti-monopoly law and a call for rebalancing the relationship between capital and labor. She condemns corporate consolidation and wealth concentration, and views lax antitrust enforcement as antithetical to democracy.”-The Guardian “A thorough history of trustbusting in America and an urgent plea for stricter enforcement . . . a diligently researched history lesson and a well thought out plan, meticulously delineated . . . staggeringly detailed . . . solid, sharp, articulate work.”-Kirkus (starred review) “Klobuchar reviews past monopolies, starting with a certain tea party, and continuing through the Gilded Age and the Sherman Act to current day, providing plenty of social, political, and legislative context . . . She argues for swift, sweepin...

-Titulo Original : The Common Good-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Review “Against the grain of much liberal thinking . . . Reich’s proposals would make a good starting point for a new progressive political project.” -Michael J. Sandel, The New York Times Book Review“Very timely . . . Reich’s work is an important call for reform that should appeal to a wide audience disaffected with the status quo.” -Library Journal (starred review)“Reich’s lucidly defining and empowering call for revitalized civic awareness-complete with an enticing list of recommended reading and discussion guide-is an ideal catalyst for book-group conversations.” -Booklist “Clear-voiced and accessible.” -Publishers Weekly “Brief but well-argued . . . a provocative essay.” -Kirkus Robert B. Reich makes a powerful case for the expansion of America’s moral imagination. Rooting his argument in common sense and everyday reality, he demonstrates that a common good constitutes the very essence of any society or nation. Societies, he says, undergo virtuous cycles that reinforce the common good as well as vicious cycles that undermine it, one of which America has been experiencing for the past five decades. This process can and must be reversed. But first we need to weigh the moral obligations of citizenship and carefully consider how we relate to honor, shame, patriotism, truth, and the meaning of leadership. Powerful, urgent, and utterly vital, this is a heartfelt missive from one of our foremost political thinkers. About the Author ROBERT B. REICH is Chancellors Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations and has written fifteen books, including The Work of Nations, Saving Capitalism, Supercapitalism, and Locked in the Cabinet. His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He is co-creator of the award-winning documentary Inequality for All and of the Netflix documentary Saving Capitalism, and is co-founder of Inequality Media. He lives in Berkeley and blogs at robertreich.org. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Introduction I was at the impressionable age of fourteen when I heard John F. Kennedy urge us not to ask what America can do for us but what we can do for America. Seven years later I took a job as a summer intern in the Senate office of his brother Robert F. Kennedy. It was not a glamorous job, to say the least. I felt lucky when I was asked to run his signature machine. But I told myself that in a very tiny way I was doing something for the good of the country. That was a half century ago. I wish I could say America is a better place now than it was then. Surely our lives are more convenient. Fifty years ago there were no cash machines or smartphones, and I wrote my first book on a typewriter. As individuals, we are as kind and generous as ever. We volunteer in our communities, donate, and help one another. We pitch in during natural disasters and emergencies. We come to the aid of individuals in need. We are a more inclusive society, in that African Americans, women, and gays have legal rights they didn’t have a half century ago. Yet our civic life-as citizens in our democ­racy, participants in our economy, managers or employees of companies, and members or leaders of organizations-seems to have sharply deteriorated. What we have lost, I think, is a sense of our connectedness to each other and to our ideals-the America that John F. Kennedy asked that we contribute to. Starting in the late 1970s, Americans began talk­ing less about the common good and more about self-aggrandizement. The shift is the hallmark of our era: from the “Greatest Generation” to the “Me Generation,” from “we’re all in it together” to “you’re on your own.” In 1977, motivational speaker Robert Ringer wrote a book that reached the top of the New York Times best-seller list en...

-Titulo Original : Tailspin The People And Forces Behind Americas Fifty-year Fall--and Those Fighting To Reverse It-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: In this revelatory narrative covering the years 1967 to 2017, Steven Brill gives us a stunningly cogent picture of the broken system at the heart of our society. He shows us how, over the last half century, America’s core values-meritocracy, innovation, due process, free speech, and even democracy itself-have somehow managed to power its decline into dysfunction. They have isolated our best and brightest, whose positions at the top have never been more secure or more remote. The result has been an erosion of responsibility and accountability, an epidemic of shortsightedness, an increasingly hollow economic and political center, and millions of Americans gripped by apathy and hopelessness. By examining the people and forces behind the rise of big-money lobbying, legal and financial engineering, the demise of private-sector unions, and a hamstrung bureaucracy, Brill answers the question on everyone’s mind: How did we end up this way? Finally, he introduces us to those working quietly and effectively to repair the damages. At once a diagnosis of our national ills, a history of their development, and a prescription for a brighter future, Tailspin is a work of riveting journalism-and a welcome antidote to political despair. Review *A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018*“Persuasive, bracing . . . an essential read if you want to understand the pressures that have brought a sclerotic Uncle Sam to his knees. -Alexander C. Kafka, Los Angeles Review of Books“Tailspin distinguishes itself within the America Gone Wrong genre. . . . All of the book’s chapters on the law crackle with energy. . . . In a downbeat era, Tailspin offers some modest ammunition for hope.” -Daniel W. Drezner, The New York Times Book ReviewSteven Brills Tailspin does precisely what the daily torrent of news does not: make sense. The book is nothing less than a unified (and persuasive) theory of everything-including politics, business, culture-and it even includes several glimmers of hope amid the pervasive darkness. -Jeffrey Toobin, author of American Heiress“A penetrating and personal examination of why the United States is in the midst of a nervous breakdown. But with his fantastically reported story, Brill also shows how-and who-might restore some common sense and equilibrium.” -Bob Woodward “An astonishingly shrewd and detailed account of our modern American reality . . . Tailspin offers something unique: a meticulous cross-disciplinary history.” -Mattea Kramer, The New York Journal of Books“A compelling story. . . . The fact that America’s best values and ideas, in Brill’s estimation, contributed to its tailspin should give us more than just momentary pause. -Paul Rosenberg, Salon“An absolute must-read: a brilliant chronicle of the failures of America’s elite.” -Steve Hilton, host of Fox News’ The Next Revolution“This is a book that pulses with dry intelligence and righteous anger.” -Philip Delves Broughton, The Weekly Standard “An eye-opening and engrossing treatise representative of all that is wrong with today’s political processes.” -Library Journal (starred review) “A dysfunctional system serving an unaccountable ruling class is wrecking America, according to this searing sociopolitical jeremiad. . . . [Brill] brings both detailed reporting and wide-ranging perspective to this insightful account of how America reached its current state.” -Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Penetrating . . . in large part because of Brill’s skill in presenting abstruse legal and financial developments in an accessible manner. . . . [A] clarifying and invaluable overview.” -Booklist (starred review)“Steven Brill is a remarkable journalist who has always ventured away from the herd. In Tailspin, he has identified and analyzed brilliantly the surprising pressure points where our democracy has fractured and failed over the past half-century, leading to today’s overwhelming dysfunction and cultural polarization. In uncovering what hap...

-Titulo Original : The Origin Of Financial Crises Central Banks, Credit Bubbles, And The Efficient Market Fallacy-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Review “A must-read on the origins of the crisis.” -The Economist “A well written book. . . . Coopers most novel doctrine is that investors do not have to be irrational to generate bubbles. . . . Mr. Cooper traces present difficulties to the rapid growth of credit encouraged by the Feds ultra-cheap money policy of a few years ago.”-Financial Times In a series of disarmingly simple arguments financial market analyst George Cooper challenges the core principles of todays economic orthodoxy and explains how we have created an economy that is inherently unstable and crisis prone. With great skill, he examines the very foundations of todays economic philosophy and adds a compelling analysis of the forces behind economic crisis. His goal is nothing less than preventing the seemingly endless procession of damaging boom-bust cycles, unsustainable economic bubbles, crippling credit crunches, and debilitating inflation. His direct, conscientious, and honest approach will captivate any reader and is an invaluable aid in understanding todays economy. About the Author Dr. George Cooper is a principal of Alignment Investors a division of BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd. He was born in Sunderland and studied at Durham University. Dr. Cooper has worked as a fund manager at Goldman Sachs and as strategist for Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan. He lives in London with his wife and two children. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 1.1 Lopsided PolicyThe first years of this millennium were marred with a corporate credit crisis; this being the hangover of a credit binge associated with the stock market boom of the late 1990s. Just as this crisis ebbed we found ourselves engulfed in a housing boom and, sure as night follows day, this boom has now morphed into its inevitable credit crunch. The proximity of these boom-bust cycles has fuelled the popular perception that financial crises are becoming larger and more frequent. The following chapters will explain why this popular perception is correct.Toward the end of the book I make some policy suggestions that, it is hoped, could begin to dampen the current chain of overlapping boombust cycles. The overall thrust of these suggestions is that avoiding the financial tsunamis comes at the price of permitting, even encouraging, a greater number of smaller credit cycles. And also at the price of requiring central banks to occasionally halt credit expansions. That is to say, the central banks must be required to prick asset price bubbles. Key to the success of any such policy will be a political climate that accepts the need for symmetric monetary policy; excessive credit expansion should be fought with the same vigour as is used to fight excessive credit contraction. As things stand neither politicians nor voters are ready for such tough love and central bankers have neither the stomach nor inclination to deliver it. In large part this is because economists have taught us that it is unwise and unnecessary to combat asset price bubbles and excessive credit creation. Even if we were unwise enough to wish to prick an asset price bubble, we are told it is impossible to see the bubble while it is in its inflationary phase.We are told, however, that by some unspecified means the bubbles camouflage is lifted immediately as it begins deflating, thereby providing a trigger for prompt fiscal and monetary stimulus.In recent years this lopsided approach to monetary and fiscal policy has been further refined into what has been described as a “risk management paradigm”, whereby policy makers attempt to get their retaliation in early by easing policy in anticipation of an economic slowdown, even before firm evidence of the slowdown has been accumulated. This strategy is perhaps best described as pre-emptive asymmetric monetary policy.To followers of orthodox economic theory, based on the presumption of efficient financial markets, this new flavo...

-Titulo Original : Cool It (movie Tie-in Edition) The Skeptical Environmentalists Guide To Global Warming-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Bjorn Lomborg argues that many of the elaborate and staggeringly expensive actions now being considered to meet the challenges of global warming ultimately will have little impact on the world’s temperature. He suggests that rather than focusing on ineffective solutions that will cost us trillions of dollars over the coming decades, we should be looking for smarter, more cost-effective approaches (such as massively increasing our commitment to green energy R&D) that will allow us to deal not only with climate change but also with other pressing global concerns, such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. And he considers why and how this debate has fostered an atmosphere in which dissenters are immediately demonized. Review “Far more convincing than An Inconvenient Truth.”-The Financial Post “Brimming with useful facts and common sense. . . . [Lomborgs] analysis is smart and refreshing, and it may bridge at least one divide in our too divided culture.” -The Wall Street Journal “Enlightening, eye-opening, brain-nourishing stuff!”-Los Angeles Times “A reasoned addition to the debate about what to do about climate change. . . . Sure to provoke much controversy.” -Esquire “Bjorn Lomborg is the best-informed and most humane advocate for environmental change in the world today. . . . [He] and Cool It are our best guides to our shared environmental future.” -Michael Crichton “[A] calm, civil, even-handed analysis. [Cool It] is suffused with concern for socially beneficial priorities and for practical steps to do good. . . . It provides some badly needed balance.” -Financial Times About the Author Bjorn Lomborg is the author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and USA Today. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2004. In 2008 he was named “one of the 50 people who could save the planet” by The Guardian; one of the top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazine; and one of the world’s 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire. He is presently an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School, and in 2004 he started the Copenhagen Consensus, a conference of top economists who come together to prioritize the best solutions for the world’s greatest challenges. Visit the authors website at lomborg . Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Preface Global warming has been portrayed recently as the greatest crisis in the history of civilization. As of this writing, stories on it occupy the front pages of Time and Newsweek and are featured prominently in countless media around the world. In the face of this level of unmitigated despair, it is perhaps surprising-and will by many be seen as inappropriate-to write a book that is basically optimistic about humanity’s prospects. That humanity has caused a substantial rise in atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels over the past centuries, thereby contributing to global warming, is beyond debate. What is debatable, however, is whether hysteria and headlong spending on extravagant CO2-cutting programs at an unprecedented price is the only possible response. Such a course is especially debatable in a world where billions of people live in poverty, where millions die of curable diseases, and where these lives could be saved, societies strengthened, and environments improved at a fraction of the cost. Global warming is a complex subject. No one-not Al Gore, not the world’s leading scientists, and most of all not myself-claims to have all the knowledge and all the solutions. But we have to act on the best available data from both the natural and the social sciences. The title of this book has two meanings: the first and obvious one is that we have to set our minds and resources toward the most effective way to tackle long-term global warming. Bu...