Every other week in PS Book Recommendations – a free newsletter, available to all registered users – PS contributors highlight books that have impressed them lately, and say why you should consider adding them to your bookshelf. Here, we present a selection of their recent recommendations. From airplane to beach, and everywhere in between, these books will keep you entertained, inspired, and enlightened all summer long. Sign up for the newsletter.
Pistor says: “In this recent book, Kapadia entwines a political theory of money with a financial theory of capitalism. Building on money theories in the tradition of Hyman Minsky, he offers an astute account of power and politics, thereby illuminating the problems burdening democracy in the context of global financial capitalism.” Read more from Pistor.
Skidelsky says: “In this recent attempt to unravel the mystery of Asia’s economic ‘retardation,’ Mühlhahn makes the essential point that the link between the human and natural worlds was never severed in China as it was in the West. This slowed economic development in China – and Asia more broadly – but ultimately led to greater resilience to shocks. A counterfactual history, which positions Asia, not Europe, as the central civilization of modern times, would be fascinating.” Read more from Skidelsky.
O’Reilly says: “This is a marvelous reminder that we aren’t any smarter than our ancestors. The complexity and beauty of expression in a work written nearly 3,000 years ago is humbling. We should realize that one day all our exploits will be the stuff of memory, and strive to be worth remembering.” Read more from O’Reilly.
Zhang says: “If you are seeking to decipher China’s complex governance mechanisms and bureaucratic reasoning, look no further than this book. Zhou offers a lucid and comprehensive analysis of China’s governance system, and his organizational perspective sheds light on the underlying political logic driving many administrative decisions. Zhou’s work significantly influenced my latest book, High Wire – in particular, my analysis of the 2020-22 tech crackdown.” Read more from Zhang.
Pei says: “Liberal democracy is currently under greater threat than at any other moment since the 1930s. In this 2023 book, Wolf – a brilliant writer with a knack for making complex ideas accessible to a broad audience – provides a comprehensive and sobering analysis of the challenges facing liberal democracies today, including tracing the economic and political forces that have contributed to the current situation.” Read more from Pei.
LaCroix says: “A lieutenant colonel in the US Army, Porter was a member of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant’s staff during the critical final year of the Civil War, and subsequently served as Grant’s personal secretary during his presidency. From the western theater to the brutal Virginia campaign to Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Porter’s lively chronicle covers troop movements, interpersonal dynamics at headquarters, and – most memorably – sketches of Grant’s humor, smoking habits, horsemanship, and strategy.” Read more from LaCroix.
Adebajo says: “This collection of essays by Nigerian historian Ade Ajayi, published in 2000, addresses topics such as the legacy of slavery, African historiography, African traditional societies, Christianity in Africa, colonial rule, and Nigerian history, ethnicity, and democracy. But it emphasizes the history and impact of the transatlantic slave trade, which played a major – and under-recognized – role in Western industrialization. Ajayi was a member of the Organization of African Unity’s Group of Eminent Persons on Reparations in 1992-93, which demanded that the West recognize its moral and financial debt to Africa and its diaspora for slavery and colonialism, and compensate these populations accordingly. To this end, he called for the education and mobilization of African societies, research into the costs of slavery and colonialism, and detailed calculations of the costs of reparations.” Read more from Adebajo.
Norrlöf says: “This book offers the most sophisticated analysis yet of the role of US overseas bases in shaping both international relations and domestic politics within host countries. Overseas bases are instrumental in projecting US power and solidifying America’s global influence. But they also frequently ignite tensions in host countries, owing to economic burdens, social issues, and sovereignty concerns. The authors use extensive survey data and interviews to paint a detailed picture of the local impact of these military installations. They also show that interactions between US military personnel and local populations can improve perceptions of the US, with positive effects for global security and the US-led world order. Ultimately, America’s “empire of bases” has a dual nature: the presence of American bases can be contentious, but it also confers advantages to both the host countries and the US.” Read more from Norrlöf.
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Raghuram G. Rajan & Rohit Lamba
argue that India must place the highest priority on creating and owning intellectual property, advocate an alternative to interventionist industrial policies like subsidies, call for the decentralization of Indian governance at every level, and more.
A spate of new US tariffs on Chinese goods has raised the specter of full economic decoupling between the world’s two largest economies. For many observers, the measures are not only misguided, but also counter-productive, with the potential to undermine economic dynamism, hamper climate action, and trigger geopolitical conflict.
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Katharina Pistor Recommends...
Anush Kapadia, A Political Theory of Money
Pistor says: “In this recent book, Kapadia entwines a political theory of money with a financial theory of capitalism. Building on money theories in the tradition of Hyman Minsky, he offers an astute account of power and politics, thereby illuminating the problems burdening democracy in the context of global financial capitalism.” Read more from Pistor.
Robert Skidelsky Recommends...
Klaus Mühlhahn, Making China Modern: From the Great Qing to Xi Jinping
Skidelsky says: “In this recent attempt to unravel the mystery of Asia’s economic ‘retardation,’ Mühlhahn makes the essential point that the link between the human and natural worlds was never severed in China as it was in the West. This slowed economic development in China – and Asia more broadly – but ultimately led to greater resilience to shocks. A counterfactual history, which positions Asia, not Europe, as the central civilization of modern times, would be fascinating.” Read more from Skidelsky.
Tim O’Reilly Recommends...
Translated by Emily Wilson, The Iliad
O’Reilly says: “This is a marvelous reminder that we aren’t any smarter than our ancestors. The complexity and beauty of expression in a work written nearly 3,000 years ago is humbling. We should realize that one day all our exploits will be the stuff of memory, and strive to be worth remembering.” Read more from O’Reilly.
Angela Huyue Zhang Recommends...
Xueguang Zhou, The Logic of Governance in China: An Organizational Approach
Zhang says: “If you are seeking to decipher China’s complex governance mechanisms and bureaucratic reasoning, look no further than this book. Zhou offers a lucid and comprehensive analysis of China’s governance system, and his organizational perspective sheds light on the underlying political logic driving many administrative decisions. Zhou’s work significantly influenced my latest book, High Wire – in particular, my analysis of the 2020-22 tech crackdown.” Read more from Zhang.
Minxin Pei Recommends...
Martin Wolf, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism
Pei says: “Liberal democracy is currently under greater threat than at any other moment since the 1930s. In this 2023 book, Wolf – a brilliant writer with a knack for making complex ideas accessible to a broad audience – provides a comprehensive and sobering analysis of the challenges facing liberal democracies today, including tracing the economic and political forces that have contributed to the current situation.” Read more from Pei.
Alison L. LaCroix Recommends...
Horace Porter, Campaigning with Grant
LaCroix says: “A lieutenant colonel in the US Army, Porter was a member of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant’s staff during the critical final year of the Civil War, and subsequently served as Grant’s personal secretary during his presidency. From the western theater to the brutal Virginia campaign to Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Porter’s lively chronicle covers troop movements, interpersonal dynamics at headquarters, and – most memorably – sketches of Grant’s humor, smoking habits, horsemanship, and strategy.” Read more from LaCroix.
Adekeye Adebajo Recommends...
Edited by Toyin Falola, Tradition and Change in Africa: The Essays of J.F. Ade Ajayi
Adebajo says: “This collection of essays by Nigerian historian Ade Ajayi, published in 2000, addresses topics such as the legacy of slavery, African historiography, African traditional societies, Christianity in Africa, colonial rule, and Nigerian history, ethnicity, and democracy. But it emphasizes the history and impact of the transatlantic slave trade, which played a major – and under-recognized – role in Western industrialization. Ajayi was a member of the Organization of African Unity’s Group of Eminent Persons on Reparations in 1992-93, which demanded that the West recognize its moral and financial debt to Africa and its diaspora for slavery and colonialism, and compensate these populations accordingly. To this end, he called for the education and mobilization of African societies, research into the costs of slavery and colonialism, and detailed calculations of the costs of reparations.” Read more from Adebajo.
Carla Norrlöf Recommends...
Carla Martinez Machain, Michael A. Allen, Michael E. Flynn, and Andrew Stravers, Beyond the Wire: US Military Deployments and Host Country Public Opinion
Norrlöf says: “This book offers the most sophisticated analysis yet of the role of US overseas bases in shaping both international relations and domestic politics within host countries. Overseas bases are instrumental in projecting US power and solidifying America’s global influence. But they also frequently ignite tensions in host countries, owing to economic burdens, social issues, and sovereignty concerns. The authors use extensive survey data and interviews to paint a detailed picture of the local impact of these military installations. They also show that interactions between US military personnel and local populations can improve perceptions of the US, with positive effects for global security and the US-led world order. Ultimately, America’s “empire of bases” has a dual nature: the presence of American bases can be contentious, but it also confers advantages to both the host countries and the US.” Read more from Norrlöf.