Saturday, December 5, 2009

Best Books of 2009 from The Economist

Read The Economist magazine reviews of their top books of 2009 at Page-Turners or listen to the podcast. The podcast made me wish I had the time and money to read them all. Here are some of the books that caught my interest.

Their pick for the best book on "the war on terror" is The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen. OUP; 384 pages; $27.95. C. Hurst; £20
General David Petraeus’s adviser on counter-insurgency advocates mixing military theory with a deep knowledge of culture and tradition among tribal peoples to try and win the “war on terror”.



They state that most books on global warming are highly partisan but they say this one is a well thought out exception, Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity by Mike Hulme. Cambridge University Press; 432 pages; $28.99 and £15.99
How global warming has been transformed from a physical phenomenon that is measurable and observable by scientists into a social, cultural and political one, by a professor of climate change at the (now controversial) University of East Anglia. In the crowded and noisy world of climate-change publications, this book will stand out.




The Economist also recommends as worth reading an "absolutely terrifying" novel where climate change is central to the story. The plot takes place in the future with major coastal cities like New York and Miami under water after the polar ice caps melt.. Check out Ultimatum by Matthew Glass. Grove Atlantic; 400 pages; $24. Atlantic Books; £9.99
Politics meets the rising tide of climate change.



If you're most interested in the recent financial crisis, The Economist recommends Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin. Viking; 624 pages; $32.95. Allen Lane; £14.99

A riveting fly-on-the-wall account of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and what came afterwards.