What were you reading on LSE Review of Books in 2024? We count down the top 12 most popular posts (nine book reviews, two author Q&As and one reading list) published this year on the blog.
12. Review: The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World. David Graeber. Allen Lane. 2024.
This book is a selection of writings spanning two decades by the renowned anthropologist and anarchist David Graeber. According to Danny Dorling’s review, the book revealed both Graeber’s original, profound impact on anarchist thought and the limitations of his idealist vision for a better society which lacked a practical roadmap for its realisation.
11. Review: The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule. Angela Saini. Fourth Estate. 2024.
Angela Saini explores the origins of patriarchy, debunking biological determinism and highlighting the role of nation building, social norms, and violence in embedding gender inequality into societies. Nicoleta Ciubotariu deemed Saini’s well-argued, comprehensive history of patriarchal power structures is essential reading for sociologists, historians and gender studies researchers as well as more general readers.
10. Q and A with Jonathan White on In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea. Profile Books. 2024.
In the Long Run investigates how changing political conceptions of the future have impacted societies from the birth of democracy to the present. Speaking to Anna D’Alton, author Jonathan White unpacked the impetus for the book which aims to show how beliefs about the future shape expectations of who should hold power, how it should be exercised, and to what ends.
9. Review: Visions of Inequality: From the French Revolution to the End of the Cold War. Branko Milanovic. Harvard University Press. 2023.
Branko Milanovic examines how major economic thinkers in the past two centuries – from Smith and Marx to Kuznets – have conceptualised and engaged with inequality. Aleksandr V Gevorkyan found the book a groundbreaking and essential contribution to the history of economic thought and inequalities studies.
8. Review: The Inequality of Wealth: Why it Matters and How to Fix it. Liam Byrne. Bloomsbury. 2024.
Liam Byrne examines the UK’s deep-seated inequality which has channelled wealth away from ordinary people (disproportionately youth and minority groups) and into the hands of the super-rich. While the solutions presented – from boosting wages to implementing an annual wealth tax – are not new, Vamika Goel thought the book synthesised them into a coherent strategy for tackling this critical problem.
7. Q&A with Sam Friedman and Aaron Reeves on Born to Rule: The Making and Remaking of the British Elite. Harvard University Press. 2024.
Drawing on years of extensive research into the complete Who’s Who database, Born to Rule examines the make-up and political views of those with power, influence and extreme wealth in Britain over the past 125 years. Speaking to Anna D’Alton, Sam Friedman and Aaron Reeves explained the findings and trends that emerged through their research, including the great continuity in elite power despite the appearance of movement towards meritocracy.
6. Review: In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea. Jonathan White. Profile Books. 2024.
Jonathan White examines how changing political conceptions of the future have impacted democracy, arguing that contemporary challenges like economic slowdown and climate change have led to reactive politics and short-termism. Though the book proposes ways to revitalise democracy, Aveek Bhattacharya posited we may need to seek beyond our political institutions for strategies to build a more open future.
5. Review: Late Fascism: Race, Capitalism and the Politics of Crisis. Alberto Toscano. Verso. 2023.
Alberto Toscano unpacks the rise of contemporary far-right movements that have emerged amid capitalist crises and appropriated liberal freedoms while perpetuating systemic forms of violence. Dimitri Vouros recommended Toscano’s penetrating, theoretically grounded analysis, deeming it an essential resource for understanding and confronting the resurgence of reactionary ideologies.
4. Review: Seven Crashes: The Economic Crises that Shaped Globalization. Harold James. Yale University Press. 2023.
Harold James explores major market crashes from the last 170 years, examining their causes (whether they were demand or supply crashes) and their impacts on globalisation. Kyle Scott felt the book shared valuable, engaging analysis of these economic crises, though its apparent aim to appeal to both general and specialist audiences fell somewhat short.
3. Reading List: Seven recommended reads on integrity in climate action
As COP29 kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan in November, Policy Analyst the LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment Tiffanie Chan compiled a list of seven eye-opening books that reveal why integrity is essential for meaningful climate action.
2. Review: Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth. Ingrid Robeyns. Allen Lane. 2023.
In the face of soaring wealth inequality, Ingrid Robeyns calls for restrictions on individual fortunes. Stewart Lansley judged that Robeyns puts forward a strong moral case for imposing wealth caps, though how to navigate the political and practical hurdles involved remains unclear.
1. Review: The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments, and Warps Our Economies. Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington. Penguin Press. 2024.
Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington claim that our overreliance on the consulting industry has negative consequences for society, inhibiting knowledge transfer and corporate and political accountability. Ivan Radanović recommended the book for exposing how consultancies’ goal of “creating value” may not align with addressing major issues such as climate change and its convincing call for greater transparency and a revitalised public sector.
Note: This review gives the views of the author and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Image: Andrii Yalanskyi on Shutterstock.
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