Five Books Newsletter 25

This week's interview

http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/mark-blyth-on-how-world’s-political-economy-works http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/mark-blyth-on-how-world’s-political-economy-works

Mark Blyth on How the World’s Political Economy Works

If you were the last person alive and had to leave a testament to how our world worked, which five books would you choose? One political economist makes his 'desert island' choices.

Books of the Week

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/town-house-by-norah-lofts"It is the most outstanding historical novel that I have ever read."

Alison Weir on Historical Novels (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/alison-weir-on-historical-fiction)

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/homage-catalonia-by-george-orwell"Yes, he picked sides...But I don’t think Orwell would say that he was not objective. Quite the contrary."

Guy Raz on Essential Reading for Reporters (http://fivebooks.com/interviews/guy-raz-on-essential-reading-reporters)

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/holdem-poker-advanced-players-by-david-sklansky-mason-malmuth"I used to think it was all human and about narrowing your eyes."

Victoria Coren on Poker (http://fivebooks.com/interviews/victoria-coren-on-poker)

http://www.fivebooks.com/recommended/regulating-aversion-by-wendy-brown"Brown thinks that it’s damaging for liberals to adopt the language of tolerance, because it moves them away from higher ideals like equality and justice and reinforces the status quo."

Timothy Stanton on Toleration (http://fivebooks.com/interviews/timothy-stanton-on-toleration)

http://fivebooks.com/recommended/maltese-falcon-by-dashiell-hammett"It was the first, and probably the greatest, hard-boiled detective novel. It pretty much invented the genre and its archetypes."

Armistead Maupin on San Francisco Novels (http://fivebooks.com/interviews/armistead-maupin-on-san-francisco-novels)

Quote of the Week

“I’m interested in the ordinary people of history. One of the things I try to do when I write is to dignify them by showing a bit of interest in their lives and what happened to them, rather than treating them as if they’re another disposable number, which is how, quite often, they were treated in life.”
Mike Dash on Hidden History (http://fivebooks.com/interviews/mike-dash-on-hidden-history)