30+ Book Recommendations by Maksim Stepanenko
The Art of Learning
Josh Waitzkin
An eight-time national chess champion and world champion martial artist shares the lessons he has learned from two very different competitive arenas, identifying key principles about learning and performance that readers can apply to their life goals. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.@pratyushbuddiga @Primer love this book!
Powerhouse
James Andrew Miller
A New York Times bestseller, now updated with an afterword and exclusive new material From the #1 bestselling author behind acclaimed oral histories of Saturday Night Live and ESPN comes "the most hotly anticipated book [in decades]" (Variety): James Andrew Miller's irresistible insider chronicle of the modern entertainment industry, told through the epic story of Creative Artists Agency (CAA)—the ultimate power player that has represented the world's biggest stars and shaped the landscape of film, television, comedy, music, and sports. Started in 1975, when five bright and brash upstarts left creaky William Morris to form their own innovative talent agency, CAA would come to revolutionize Hollywood, representing everyone from Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, and Steven Spielberg to Jennifer Lawrence, J.J. Abrams, Will Smith, and Brad Pitt. Over the next decades its tentacles would spread aggressively into sports, advertising, and digital media. Powerhouse is the fascinating, no-holds-barred saga of that ascent. Drawing on unprecedented and exclusive access to the men and women who built and battled with CAA—including co-founders Michael Ovitz and Ron Meyer and rivals like Ari Emanuel of William Morris Endeavor—as well as the stars themselves, Miller spins a unique and unforgettable tale of brilliance, ambition, betrayal, and outrageous success.This book turned out to be quite a page-turner. h/t @alexeyguzey Big fan of this format of direct quotes from interviews with multiple sides telling their part of the story—all thoughtfully arranged. Any other similar recommendations? https://t.co/gRVBHCly3v
The Feynman Lectures on Physics, boxed set
Richard P. Feynman
"The whole thing was basically an experiment," Richard Feynman said late in his career, looking back on the origins of his lectures. The experiment turned out to be hugely successful, spawning a book that has remained a definitive introduction to physics for decades. Ranging from the most basic principles of Newtonian physics through such formidable theories as general relativity and quantum mechanics, Feynman's lectures stand as a monument of clear exposition and deep insight. Now, we are reintroducing the printed books to the trade, fully corrected, for the first time ever, and in collaboration with Caltech. Timeless and collectible, the lectures are essential reading, not just for students of physics but for anyone seeking an introduction to the field from the inimitable Feynman.@zebriez @delk @Primer @stripepress got one copy of each book for the office 💟
Thinking in Systems
Donella H. Meadows
In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth—the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet— Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Meadows' newly released manuscript, Thinking in Systems, is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life. Some of the biggest problems facing the world—war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation—are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking. While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner. In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.@zebriez @delk @Primer @stripepress got one copy of each book for the office 💟
The Phoenix Project
Gene Kim
Bill has 90 days to fix a behind-schedule IT project, or his entire department will be outsourced. Fortunately, he has the help of a prospective board member, whose "Three Ways" philosophy might just save the day.@zebriez @delk @Primer @stripepress got one copy of each book for the office 💟
The Goal
Eliyahu M. Goldratt
"Includes case study interviews"--Cover.How have I not heard of this book before? definitely a contender for the highest substance-to-book-cover-vibes ratio https://t.co/ggOMW6sK7J
The Case against Education
Bryan Caplan
"Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity--in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee. [He examines] why students hunt for easy As and casually forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for the average worker but instead in runaway credential inflation, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely if ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy"--Dust jacket flap.Recommended reading at Primer. If you're seriously looking at doing something in education, this is *the* book to read on systemic problems in the space. https://t.co/EntFU70ism
Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field
Nancy Forbes
Describes how Faraday and Maxwell discovered the electromagnetic field and devised a radical new theory which overturned the strictly mechanical view of the world that had prevailed since Newton's time.Enjoyed this book. A few things that stood out: - Faraday's lack of a strong math foundation - how non-consensus his ideas were despite all the experimental evidence - both Faraday and Maxwell's focus on proving everything experimentally for themselves https://t.co/asCdJnceVi
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth
Chris Hadfield
Watch this stream with your kids and then buy this book for them https://t.co/SIX22WEjCW https://t.co/0flWDftjd1
Art of Doing Science and Engineering
Richard R. Hamming
omg @stripepress is republishing The Art of Doing Science and Engineering! This is one of my all-time favorite books. I even printed it myself through https://t.co/oDGSM3y0AF, because I couldn't find a physical copy. Some of my notes are here: https://t.co/yvT1KWWhiK https://t.co/kSzm6Ullzn
The Timeless Way of Building
Christopher Alexander
This introductory volume to Alexander's other works, A Pattern of Language and The Oregon Experiment, explains concepts fundamental to his original approaches to the theory and application of architecture@tjrwriting https://t.co/Rlv87xr0mp
The Years of Lyndon Johnson
Robert A. Caro
The political biography of our time, now available in a four-volume hardcover set. Robert A. Caro's life of Lyndon Johnson is one of the richest, most intensive and most revealing examinations ever undertaken of an American president. It is the magnum opus of a writer perfectly suited to his task: the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer-historian, chronicler also of Robert Moses in The Power Broker, whose inspired research and profound understanding of the nature of ambition and the dynamics of power have made him a peerless explicator of political lives. "Taken together the installments of Mr. Caro's monumental life of Johnson . . . form a revealing prism by which to view the better part of a century in American life and politics during which the country experienced tumultuous and divisive social change. . .Gripping." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "By writing the best presidential biography the country has ever seen, Caro has forever changed the way we think, and read, American history . . . It's his immense talent as a writer that has made his biography of Johnson one of America's most amazing literary achievements . . . As absorbing as a political thriller . . .A masterpiece, unlike any other work of American history published in the past. It's true that there will never be another Lyndon B. Johnson, but there will never be another Robert A. Caro, either." -NPR "One of the truly great political biographies of the modern age. A masterpiece" --The Times (London) The Path to Power reveals the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and urge to power that set LBJ apart. Chronicling the startling early emergence of Johnson's political genius, it follows him from his Texas boyhood through the years of the Depression in the Texas Hill Country to the triumph of his congressional debut in New Deal Washington, to his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless of the national power for which he hungered. National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction Means of Ascent follows Johnson through his service in World War II to the foundation of his long-concealed fortune and the facts behind the myth he created about it. The explosive heart of the book is Caro's revelation of the true story of the fiercely contested 1948 senatorial election, which Johnson had to win or face certain political death, and which he did win--by "87 votes that changed history." Caro makes us witness to a momentous turning point in American politics; the tragic last stand of the old politics versus the new--the politics of issue versus the politics of image, mass manipulation, money and electronic dazzle. National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography Master of the Senate carries Johnson's story through his twelve remarkable years in the Senate. It is an unprecedented revelation of how legislative power works in America, how the Senate works, and how Johnson, in his ascent to the presidency, mastered the Senate as no political leader before him had ever done. In a breathtaking tour de force, Caro details Johnson's amazing triumph in maneuvering to passage the first civil rights legislation since 1875. Pulitzer Prize in Biography Los Angeles Times Book Award in Biography National Book Award in Nonfiction The Passage of Power is an unparalleled account of the battle between Johnson and John Kennedy for the 1960 presidential nomination, of the machinations behind Kennedy's decision to offer Johnson the vice presidency, of Johnson's powerlessness and humiliation in that role, and of the savage animosity between Johnson and Robert Kennedy. In Caro's description of the Kennedy assassination, which The New York Times called "the most riveting ever," we see the events of November 22, 1963, for the first time through Lyndon Johnson's eyes. And we watch as his political genius enables him to grasp the reins of the presidency with total command and, within weeks, make it wholly his own, surmounting unprecedented obstacles in order to fulfill the highest purpose of the office. National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography "Brilliant . . . Important . . . Remarkable ... In sparkling detail, Caro shows Johnson's genius for getting to people--friends, foes, and everyone in between--and how he used it to achieve his goals...With this fascinating and meticulous account, Robert Caro has once again done America a great service."-- President Bill Clinton, The New York Times Book Review (front cover) "The politicians' political book of choice...An encyclopedia of dirty tricks that would make Machiavelli seem naïve." London Literary Review "Making ordinary politics and policymaking riveting and revealing is what makes Caro a genius. Combined with his penetrating insight and fanatical research, Caro's Churchill-like prose elevates the life of a fairly influential president to stuff worthy of Shakespeare. . .Robert Caro stands alone as the unquestioned master of the contemporary American political biography." The Boston GlobeFinished reading the first 2. Among many other things, this bio is a primer on what it means to “will things into existence” and to be “relentlessly resourceful”. Written by Caro, there probably isn’t a more detailed study of the subject out there 😅 https://t.co/dhsn0nGm8L
The Case against Education
Bryan Caplan
"Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity--in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee. [He examines] why students hunt for easy As and casually forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for the average worker but instead in runaway credential inflation, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely if ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy"--Dust jacket flap.Source: https://t.co/F02J4lJFN5
Bringing Montessori to America
Gerald L. Gutek
Bringing Montessori to America tells the little known story of the collaboration and clash between the indomitable educator Maria Montessori and the American publisher S. S. McClure over the launch of Montessori education in the United States.@jasoncrawford @spakhm @raygirn @mbateman that's interesting! Looks like this book has the history https://t.co/NaYNDNtNJF https://t.co/eDO3GE9lkB
From Third World to First
Lee Kuan Yew
Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with not only the world's number one airline, best airport, and busiest port of trade, but also the world's fourth–highest per capita real income? The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore's charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore now is hailed as a city of the future. This miraculous history is dramatically recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged ahead and brought about most of these changes. Delving deep into his own meticulous notes, as well as previously unpublished government papers and official records, Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city–state in Southeast Asia to survive at that time. Lee explains how he and his cabinet colleagues finished off the communist threat to the fledgling state's security and began the arduous process of nation building: forging basic infrastructural roads through a land that still consisted primarily of swamps, creating an army from a hitherto racially and ideologically divided population, stamping out the last vestiges of colonial–era corruption, providing mass public housing, and establishing a national airline and airport. In this illuminating account, Lee writes frankly about his trenchant approach to political opponents and his often unorthodox views on human rights, democracy, and inherited intelligence, aiming always "to be correct, not politically correct." Nothing in Singapore escaped his watchful eye: whether choosing shrubs for the greening of the country, restoring the romance of the historic Raffles Hotel, or openly, unabashedly persuading young men to marry women as well educated as themselves. Today's safe, tidy Singapore bears Lee's unmistakable stamp, for which he is unapologetic: "If this is a nanny state, I am proud to have fostered one." Though Lee's domestic canvas in Singapore was small, his vigor and talent assured him a larger place in world affairs. With inimitable style, he brings history to life with cogent analyses of some of the greatest strategic issues of recent times and reveals how, over the years, he navigated the shifting tides of relations among America, China, and Taiwan, acting as confidant, sounding board, and messenger for them. He also includes candid, sometimes acerbic pen portraits of his political peers, including the indomitable Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the poetry–spouting Jiang Zemin, and ideologues George Bush and Deng Xiaoping. Lee also lifts the veil on his family life and writes tenderly of his wife and stalwart partner, Kwa Geok Choo, and of their pride in their three children –– particularly the eldest son, Hsien Loong, who is now Singapore's deputy prime minister. For more than three decades, Lee Kuan Yew has been praised and vilified in equal measure, and he has established himself as a force impossible to ignore in Asian and international politics. From Third World to First offers readers a compelling glimpse into this visionary's heart, soul, and mind.@tilek @spakhm It was conscious. His memoir has an entire chapter on how communists lost in Singapore. I was very surprised about how intentional he was about everything (ofc memoir is a biased account, but still). Highly recommend the book https://t.co/v2zCcrquwR
Education in a Time Between Worlds
Zachary Stein
Education in a Time Between Worlds seeks to reframe this historical moment as an opportunity to create a global society of educational abundance. Educational systems must be transformed beyond recognition if humanity is to survive the planetary crises currently underway.@Parents_Nook https://t.co/KTc7yRohqD
Designing an Internet (Information Policy)
David D. Clark
Why the Internet was designed to be the way it is, and how it could be different, now and in the future. How do you design an internet? The architecture of the current Internet is the product of basic design decisions made early in its history. What would an internet look like if it were designed, today, from the ground up? In this book, MIT computer scientist David Clark explains how the Internet is actually put together, what requirements it was designed to meet, and why different design decisions would create different internets. He does not take today's Internet as a given but tries to learn from it, and from alternative proposals for what an internet might be, in order to draw some general conclusions about network architecture. Clark discusses the history of the Internet, and how a range of potentially conflicting requirements—including longevity, security, availability, economic viability, management, and meeting the needs of society—shaped its character. He addresses both the technical aspects of the Internet and its broader social and economic contexts. He describes basic design approaches and explains, in terms accessible to nonspecialists, how networks are designed to carry out their functions. (An appendix offers a more technical discussion of network functions for readers who want the details.) He considers a range of alternative proposals for how to design an internet, examines in detail the key requirements a successful design must meet, and then imagines how to design a future internet from scratch. It's not that we should expect anyone to do this; but, perhaps, by conceiving a better future, we can push toward it.This sounds like an interesting read. Might be of special interest to people working on designing new crypto networks. https://t.co/lzjI7fC2RL https://t.co/nI97NpSLoh
Tuxedo Park
Jennet Conant
Presents the story of financier Alfred Lee Loomis and his role in the American victory during World War II, discussing Tuxedo Park, the lavish safe haven he created for some of the world's greatest scientists to meet and share ideas.Really enjoyed reading this book. A lot more people should know about Alfred Loomis https://t.co/lGhoZbg0zz
The Beginning of Infinity
David Deutsch
A pioneer in the field of quantum computation explores the nature and progress of knowledge in the universe, arguing that humans are subject to the laws of physics but unlimited by what can be understood, controlled, and achieved.@jessedonoe @patrickc https://t.co/iEMvMzporq
Organizing Genius
Warren Bennis
@asteroid_saku I’m reading this book right now on a similar’ish topic and loving it so far. Disney, xerox parc, manhattan project, and skunk works in one book 💙https://t.co/DjgZjzCpBk
The Power Broker
Robert A. Caro
Moses is pictured as idealist reformer and political manipulator as his rise to power and eventual domination of New York State politics is documented@kevinakwok @calcsam read “The Power Broker” and “Working” - thanks to you! LBJ books are on deck
Working
Robert A. Caro
"Short autobiography about author's processes of researching, interviewing, and writing his books"--@kevinakwok @calcsam read “The Power Broker” and “Working” - thanks to you! LBJ books are on deck
Exact Thinking in Demented Times
Karl Sigmund
A dazzling group biography of the early twentieth-century thinkers who transformed the way the world thought about math and science Inspired by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and Bertrand Russell and David Hilbert's pursuit of the fundamental rules of mathematics, some of the most brilliant minds of the generation came together in post-World War I Vienna to present the latest theories in mathematics, science, and philosophy and to build a strong foundation for scientific investigation. Composed of such luminaries as Kurt Gödel and Rudolf Carnap, and stimulated by the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper, the Vienna Circle left an indelible mark on science. Exact Thinking in Demented Times tells the often outrageous, sometimes tragic, and never boring stories of the men who transformed scientific thought. A revealing work of history, this landmark book pays tribute to those who dared to reinvent knowledge from the ground up.@kevinakwok @eugenewei @KevinSimler @patrickc I have this one on deck https://t.co/pRkjYm3ZZb
The Dream Machine
M. Mitchell Waldrop
At a time when computers were a short step removed from mechanical data processors, Licklider was writing treatises on "human-computer symbiosis," "computers as communication devices," and a now not-so-unfamiliar "Intergalactic Network." His ideas became so influential, his passion so contagious, that Waldrop coined him "computing's Johnny Appleseed." In a simultaneously compelling personal narrative and comprehensive historical exposition, Waldrop tells the story of the man who not only instigated the work that led to the internet, but also shifted our understanding of what computers were and could be.@dwr https://t.co/Fjm4ZVkIQU
Genentech
Sally Smith Hughes
In the fall of 1980, Genentech, Inc., a little-known California genetic engineering company, became the overnight darling of Wall Street, raising over $38 million in its initial public stock offering. Lacking marketed products or substantial profit, the firm nonetheless saw its share price escalate from $35 to $89 in the first few minutes of trading, at that point the largest gain in stock market history. Coming at a time of economic recession and declining technological competitiveness in the United States, the event provoked banner headlines and ignited a period of speculative frenzy over biotechnology as a revolutionary means for creating new and better kinds of pharmaceuticals, untold profit, and a possible solution to national economic malaise. Drawing from an unparalleled collection of interviews with early biotech players, Sally Smith Hughes offers the first book-length history of this pioneering company, depicting Genentech’s improbable creation, precarious youth, and ascent to immense prosperity. Hughes provides intimate portraits of the people significant to Genentech’s science and business, including cofounders Herbert Boyer and Robert Swanson, and in doing so sheds new light on how personality affects the growth of science. By placing Genentech’s founders, followers, opponents, victims, and beneficiaries in context, Hughes also demonstrates how science interacts with commercial and legal interests and university research, and with government regulation, venture capital, and commercial profits. Integrating the scientific, the corporate, the contextual, and the personal, Genentech tells the story of biotechnology as it is not often told, as a risky and improbable entrepreneurial venture that had to overcome a number of powerful forces working against it.This was a fun read about the early days of biotech. With the exception of one company founded in 1944, there were no new pharma companies since 1920s in the US. Genentech opened the floodgates with their success at the end of 1970s https://t.co/tI1dPsar3D https://t.co/eBA01Bv1aa
Working
Robert A. Caro
"Short autobiography about author's processes of researching, interviewing, and writing his books"--@brian_armstrong It’s the inside cover of this book https://t.co/pDvEbp3BDO
Masters of Doom
David Kushner
Presents a dual biography of John Carmack and John Romero, the creators of the video games Doom and Quake, assessing the impact of their creation on American pop culture and revealing how their success eventually destroyed their relationship.@dwr “Masters of Doom” is a really fun read https://t.co/kVJ8lAJMmu. Still reading “The Power Broker”, but it’s also in top 3 for this year
- From Beethoven and Kafka to George Sand, Picasso and Agatha Christie, this compilation of letters, diaries and interviews reveals the profound fusion of discipline and dissipation through which the artistic temperament is allowed to evolve, recharge and emerge. 20,000 first printing.
Even better: “Daily Rituals” but about people’s personal productivity setups https://t.co/k14Dc39YaL
The Story of Civilization [Volumes 1 to 11] (Hardcover Set 1963-1975)
Will & Ariel Durant
@kevinakwok @narayanarjun "The Story of Civilization" series by Will and Ariel Durant. 11-books-series sounds intimidating, so my current plan is to read 1 or 2 a year starting in 2019 :D
Brief Answers to the Big Questions
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking was recognized as one of the greatest minds of our time and a figure of inspiration after defying his ALS diagnosis at age twenty-one. He is known for both his breakthroughs in theoretical physics as well as his ability to make complex concepts accessible for all, and was beloved for his mischievous sense of humor. At the time of his death, Hawking was working on a final project: a book compiling his answers to the "big" questions that he was so often posed--questions that ranged beyond his academic field. Within these pages, he provides his personal views on our biggest challenges as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next. Each section will be introduced by a leading thinker offering his or her own insight into Professor Hawking's contribution to our understanding. The book will also feature a foreword from Academy Award winning actor Eddie Redmayne, who portrayed Hawking in the film The Theory of Everything, and an afterword by Hawking's daughter, Lucy Hawking, as well as personal photographs and additional archival material.@BrianTHeligman first chapter is exactly about that https://t.co/tkLGdGfB28
Fooled By Randomness
Nassim Taleb
Contends that randomness and probability have a large impact on life, claims that people regularly fail to recognize that role, and tells how to differentiate between randomness in general and the financial markets in particular.@dwr @libovness Antifragile > the black swan > SITG > fooled by randomness
Masters of Doom
David Kushner
Presents a dual biography of John Carmack and John Romero, the creators of the video games Doom and Quake, assessing the impact of their creation on American pop culture and revealing how their success eventually destroyed their relationship.Fun read about the history of the gaming industry. It’s mind-blowing how a John Carmack or Jeff Dean level programmer can singlehandedly push an entire field forward https://t.co/FLeZU2N3M7
The Dream Machine
M. Mitchell Waldrop
At a time when computers were a short step removed from mechanical data processors, Licklider was writing treatises on "human-computer symbiosis," "computers as communication devices," and a now not-so-unfamiliar "Intergalactic Network." His ideas became so influential, his passion so contagious, that Waldrop coined him "computing's Johnny Appleseed." In a simultaneously compelling personal narrative and comprehensive historical exposition, Waldrop tells the story of the man who not only instigated the work that led to the internet, but also shifted our understanding of what computers were and could be.If👇 sounds really interesting, I highly recommend reading The Dream Machine. I got obsessed with reading the papers discussed in this thread after I read that book https://t.co/FZXk9QpGAT
The Square and the Tower
Niall Ferguson
A "recasting of the turning points in world history, including the one we're living through, as a struggle between old power hierarchies and new social networks"--Dust jacket.@rkarabukaev https://t.co/UrxcFnV1fP
Art of Doing Science and Engineering
Richard R. Hamming
Strong +1 on this one. I couldn’t find a reasonably priced copy of it last year, so ended up printing @worrydream’s pdf on https://t.co/oDGSM3PBsd https://t.co/g1EJB3e7mU https://t.co/3X8cNSwdDN
The Sovereign Individual
James Dale Davidson
The authors identify both the likely disasters and the potential for prosperity inherent in the advent of the information age.https://t.co/gxxu0VgTUg
Political Order and Political Decay
Francis Fukuyama
The second volume of the bestselling landmark work on the history of the modern state Writing in The Wall Street Journal, David Gress called Francis Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order "magisterial in its learning and admirably immodest in its ambition." In The New York Times Book Review, Michael Lind described the book as "a major achievement by one of the leading public intellectuals of our time." And in The Washington Post, Gerard DeGrott exclaimed "this is a book that will be remembered. Bring on volume two." Volume two is finally here, completing the most important work of political thought in at least a generation. Taking up the essential question of how societies develop strong, impersonal, and accountable political institutions, Fukuyama follows the story from the French Revolution to the so-called Arab Spring and the deep dysfunctions of contemporary American politics. He examines the effects of corruption on governance, and why some societies have been successful at rooting it out. He explores the different legacies of colonialism in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and offers a clear-eyed account of why some regions have thrived and developed more quickly than others. And he boldly reckons with the future of democracy in the face of a rising global middle class and entrenched political paralysis in the West. A sweeping, masterful account of the struggle to create a well-functioning modern state, Political Order and Political Decay is destined to be a classic.@socrates1024 The origins of political order by francis fukuyama
Understanding Power
Noam Chomsky
An introduction to Noam Chomsky's views on the politics of power discusses third-party politics in the United States, the suppression of dissent, U.S. foreign and domestic policy, and the role of the media.@michael_nielsen @juliagalef +1 on "Understanding Power". One of my all time favorites
Alibaba
Duncan Clark
An engrossing, insider’s account of how a teacher built one of the world’s most valuable companies—rivaling Walmart & Amazon—and forever reshaped the global economy. In just a decade and half Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded and built Alibaba into one of the world’s largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the largest global IPO ever. A Rockefeller of his age who is courted by CEOs and Presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for China’s booming private sector and the gatekeeper to hundreds of millions of middle class consumers. Duncan Clark first met Jack in 1999 in the small apartment where Jack founded Alibaba. Granted unprecedented access to a wealth of new material including exclusive interviews, Clark draws on his own experience as an early advisor to Alibaba and two decades in China chronicling the Internet’s impact on the country to create an authoritative, compelling narrative account of Alibaba’s rise. How did Jack overcome his humble origins and early failures to achieve massive success with Alibaba? How did he outsmart rival entrepreneurs from China and Silicon Valley? Can Alibaba maintain its 80% market share? As it forges ahead into finance and entertainment, are there limits to Alibaba’s ambitions? How does the Chinese government view its rise? Will Alibaba expand further overseas, including in the U.S.? Clark tells Alibaba’s tale in the context of China’s momentous economic and social changes, illuminating an unlikely corporate titan as never before.@vvoyer https://t.co/ht2C2BlB03