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Looking for inspiration for some book-related gifts this winter?

Throughout Autumn 2015, LSE Review of Books has featured reviews of many of the best new books being published across the social sciences and the humanities. For the festive season, we recommend some of the most interesting reads on offer.

1). For the Cinephile:

The Cinema of Agnès Varda: Resistance and Eclecticism. Delphine Bénézet. Wallflower Press. 2015.

Delphine Bénézet explores the filmmaker’s career through a particular focus on her lesser studied films. Sander Hölsgens praises the book for drawing attention to the diversity of Varda’s oeuvre, as well as to the crucial role played by the corporeal across her filmic works.

2). For the Economist:

Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future. Paul Mason. Allen Lane. 2015.

Alongside comprehensive insight into the failings of the current economic system, this book outlines the emergence of a new economic paradigm – postcapitalism – partly instigated by rapid developments in information technologies. For Paul Mason, technological innovation fosters myriad changes that can challenge the traditional categories of classical economics to instead offer the possibility of forging a more socially just and sustainable economy. But, Simon Horton asks, is Mason overly optimistic in assuming that the information economy will necessarily engender a transition away from existing capitalist structures?

3). For the Environmentalist:

Why Are We Waiting? The Logic, Urgency and Promise of Tackling Climate Change. Nicholas Stern. MIT Press. 2015.

Nicholas Stern expands upon the 2006 Stern Review to offer a timely argument in favour of global action on climate change. As Stern goes beyond economic analysis to discuss the scientific, political, ethical and practical aspects of forging pathways to international cooperation, Chandni Singh welcomes the book as a valuable contribution to the task of tackling the twin challenges of this century: global poverty and climate change.

4). For the Gender Scholar:

Being Gorgeous: Feminism, Sexuality, and the Pleasures of the Visible. Jacki Willson. I. B. Tauris. 2015.

Jacki Willson explores the ways in which ostentation, flamboyance and dressing up can allow women to subvert traditional notions of femininity through ‘pastiche, parody, or pleasure’. Taking examples from ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, this book examines how modern-day female performers can establish their own version of femininity through its reappropriation, writes Katherine Williams.

5). For the Historian:

A Historical Atlas of Tibet. Karl E. Ryavec. University of Chicago Press. 2015.

Following two decades of research, Karl E. Ryavec expertly presents the historical and cultural transformations of Tibet since the Palaeolithic period through a series of 49 maps supplemented by detailed keys, essays and accompanying photographs. The first work of its kind, this is a beautiful reference book of value to a range of scholars and students including historians, anthropologists, historical geographers and digital cartographers, writes Tim Chamberlain.