Who are the members of the new ruling class? Are mobile phones turning teenagers loopy? Did the Virgin Mary ever breathe fire? Can you divide the establishment into two tribes — “the River” and “the Village”? Do neurotic, jittery times lead to artistic and intellectual flourishing? So many questions. But this guide to what the booksellers call “smart thinking” books might have a few answers. Enjoy expanding your intellectual horizons.
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The Times and Sunday Times best thought book of the year
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
Between 2010 and 2018 rates of teenage depression doubled and cases of self-harm among girls rose by 188 per cent. In The Anxious Generation, the American psychologist Jonathan Haidt marshals the data to make the almost unanswerable case that the cause of this catastrophe is the advent of near-ubiquitous smartphones. Rather than playing with their friends, modern teenagers are isolated in their rooms scrolling through social media content on their phones, which is deluging them with toxic information. Predictably, this is not making them happy. This is a depressing but essential read.
Allen Lane £25
Buy a copy of The Anxious Generation here
Born to Rule: The Making and Remaking of the British Elite by Sam Friedman and Aaron Reeves
In this gripping work of social commentary the sociologists Sam Friedman and Aaron Reeves dissect Britain’s elite. Who’s in it? What do they believe? How do they spend their free time? Friedman and Reeves make ingenious use of data from sources such as Desert Island Discs and Who’s Who to build their argument that members of today’s establishment are obsessed with trying to pass themselves off as normal and relatable. Almost none of the powerful and influential people they talk to will admit to being in the establishment. Why are they so embarrassed about it? It’s a fascinating thesis.
Harvard £20
Buy a copy of Born to Rule here
Mortal Secrets: Freud, Vienna and the Discovery of the Modern Mind by Frank Tallis
This brilliantly rich book about Sigmund Freud’s Vienna shows how psychoanalysis was shaped by the city of its birth. Fittingly, the milieu was pretty neurotic. The capital of an empire tottering towards its doom, Vienna had the highest suicide rate of any European city and was filled with artists and composers tortured by nerves, lust and unrequited love. We meet an impotent Gustav Mahler weeping on the floor of his garden shed and the “compulsive philanderer” Gustav Klimt stalking society beauties in his artist’s smock. It’s wonderfully vivid stuff.
Little, Brown £25
Buy a copy of Mortal Secrets here
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Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari
Yuval Noah Harari is the undisputed maestro of the big idea. In his mega-selling Sapiens he traced the history of all humanity from the distant neolithic to the present. This book about the history of information networks takes in the birth of writing, the rise of the first bureaucracies, the invention of the printing press, trots through the Industrial Revolution and finishes up with some pretty alarming thoughts about how “our new AI overlords” will control society. All this without the author even seeming to break sweat. Some find Harari spurious and loopily overambitious, but nobody can pull off a big theory as suavely as he can.
Fern £28
Buy a copy of Nexus here
Heresy: Jesus Christ and the Other Sons of God by Catherine Nixey
Are you familiar with the Bible story in which Jesus resurrects the chicken from his bowl of soup? How about the one in which the Virgin Mary breathes fire? Catherine Nixey explains why these splendid tales never made it into the Bible. Heresy is a gripping and beautifully written account of the diverse and exciting beliefs that flourished in the early years of Christian history and how they were hammered out into the one story that has been passed down to us. The past is stranger than it seems.
Picador £25
Buy a copy of Heresy here
On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything by Nate Silver
Nate Silver is a polling guru, poker player, political prognosticator and risk expert. This intriguing (although sometimes rambling) book on the art of risk-taking divides the American establishment into two tribes: “the River” and “the Village”. The main focus of Silver’s attention are the mathematically literate River people — Silicon Valley types — who understand risk and use it to make informed decisions. The Village is composed of arty-farty old media buffoons like me who make predictions based on emotions and hunches. You can guess where Silver’s sympathies lie. It’s an intriguing idea and worth reading even if you are allergic to the hubris of tech bros.
Allen Lane £30
Buy a copy of On the Edge here
The History of Ideas: Equality, Justice and Revolution by David Runciman
David Runciman is a University of Cambridge politics professor turned podcaster whose show Past Present Future is essential listening for the more highbrow kind of politics obsessive. This eclectic survey of a ragbag of great political thinkers takes in characters as diverse as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Rosa Luxemburg, Samuel Butler, Simone de Beauvoir and Jeremy Bentham. Runciman is a superbly lucid and conversational guide — this is a perfect starting place for anyone wanting to get their teeth into the history of political philosophy.
Profile £22
Buy a copy of The History of Ideas here
How the World Made the West: A 4,000-Year History by Josephine Quinn
The history of western civilisation is more complicated than you thought, argues Josephine Quinn, a professor of ancient history, in this fascinating book. We are accustomed to assuming that we are the inheritors of a political, philosophical and technological tradition that can be traced back to ancient Athens and ancient Rome. In fact, Quinn says, the ancient world was globalised. Thanks to ideas spreading across continents and cultural boundaries, influences from Asia, India and the Islamic world were streaming into the Mediterranean, so European culture is less European than you may think. Quinn can get carried away with this trendy idea, but it’s still a provoking read.
Bloomsbury £30
Buy a copy of How the World Made the West here
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What was the best book about smart thinking you read this year? Add your recommendations in the comments
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