Showing titles in History & Culture

This Is Not a Game is the extraordinary untold story of the internet’s first conspiracy theory, the legend of Ong’s Hat. Marc Fennell will dive deep into a previously unexplored world of tech hippies, eccentric web subcultures and simmering paranoia, uncovering how this tongue-in-cheek artistic experiment backfired on its creator and went on to influence much of what’s wrong with the internet today.

The dark horse of the New World Order was never Communism, Socialism or Fascism: It has always been Technocracy! Started in the 1930s, re-introduced by the Trilateral Commission in 1973 as the “New International Economic Order,” Technocrats have staged a sweeping coup d’état in plain sight in Washington, DC. during the Trump presidency. The Dark Enlightenment wants to turn us into a monarchy. Tokenization is flipping us into an asset-based economic system where you “will own nothing”. AI is shoving us into a digital Gulag.

In a contest of change, which century from the past millennium would come up trumps? Imagine the Black Death took on the female vote in a pub brawl, or the Industrial Revolution faced the Internet in a medieval joust - whose side would you be on? In this hugely entertaining book, celebrated historian Ian Mortimer takes us on a whirlwind tour of Western history, pitting one century against another in his quest to measure change.

‘Laura Bates explains how they built the future – and forgot to put women in it’ CAITLIN MORAN 'Fascinating and essential... I urge you to read every syllable' JO BRAND ‘All men must read this book if they have any interest in a truly just, fair and equal society’ ROBIN INCE AI is here...

The #1 New York Times Bestseller One of Barack Obama's Summer Reading List Picks From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and MSNBC and podcast host, a powerful wide-angle reckoning with how the assault from attention capitalism on our minds and our hearts has reordered our politics and...

Narrated by the brilliant Stephen Fry, this audiobook features an inspiring prologue read by the author, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and a fascinating bonus conversation between Stephen and Tim. 'Visionary . . . Full of warmth and humanity' – Kate Bush 'Profound' – Al Gore 'Compulsive reading' –...

The #1 New York Times and global bestseller from Walter Isaacson—the acclaimed author of Steve Jobs, Einstein: His Life and World, Benjamin Franklin, and Leonardo da Vinci—is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating, controversial innovator of modern times. For two years...

Brought to you by Penguin. A pyrotechnic examination of Elon Musk as a symptom and avatar of our postliberal age Who on earth is Elon Musk and what is he doing? Is he a hero, a villain, or does he swing constantly between those two poles? According to the constant media gush driven by his every...

Brought to you by Penguin. How a force that’s hard to name, but which we all feel, is reshaping what it means to be human In Against the Machine, “furiously gifted” (The Washington Post) novelist, poet, and essayist Paul Kingsnorth presents a wholly original—and terrifying—account of...

Audie Award, History/Biography, 2016. On the night of July 20, 1969, our world changed forever when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Based on in-depth interviews with 23 of the 24 moon voyagers, as well as those who struggled to get the program moving, A Man on the Moon conveys every aspect of the Apollo missions with breathtaking immediacy and stunning detail.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Soonish by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, read by Kelly Weinersmith and Joseph May. What will the world of tomorrow be like? How does progress happen? And why don't we have a lunar colony already? In this witty and entertaining book, Kelly and Zach...

Everything is a computer. Ovens are computers that make things hot; refrigerators are computers that keep things cold. These computers - from home thermostats to chemical plants - are all online. All computers can be hacked. And Internet-connected computers are the most vulnerable. Forget data theft: Cutting-edge digital attackers can now crash your car, your pacemaker, and the nation’s power grid. In Click Here to Kill Everybody, renowned expert and best-selling author Bruce Schneier examines the hidden risks of this new reality.

The story of human civilization can be read most deeply in the materials we have found or created, used or abused. They have dictated how we build, eat, communicate, wage war, create art, travel, and worship. Some, such as stone, iron, and bronze, lend their names to the ages. Others, such as gold, silver, and diamond, contributed to the rise and fall of great empires.

Cutting through the noise of AI evangelists and AI doom-mongers, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI, focusing on the practical aspects of how these new tools for thought can transform our world. In Co-Intelligence, he urges us to engage with AI as co-worker, co-teacher and coach.

Brought to you by Penguin. “Tanks are like dinner jackets”, an Australian general once commented, “you don’t need them very often, but when you do, nothing else will do.” An authoritative history of the tank and the remarkable individuals who designed them and fought in them, from a...

This book is not about the newest trends or the latest hacks. Instead, it revisits the early practices and principles that shaped social media, reminding us that the roots of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more still matter today. If you’re searching for new tricks, this book is not for you. But if you want to rediscover the timeless foundations that built social media, then you’ve found the right guide.

In the Shadow of the Moon tells the story of the most exciting and challenging years in spaceflight, with two superpowers engaged in a titanic struggle to land one of their own people on the moon. Drawing on interviews with astronauts, cosmonauts, their families, technicians, and scientists, as well as rarely seen Soviet and American government documents, the authors craft a remarkable story of the golden age of spaceflight as both an intimate human experience and a rollicking global adventure.

Are you drowning in endless tasks? Stuck using outdated tools that make your workday drag on forever? Does the mere mention of AI make you feel like you're lost in a sci-fi thriller you don't understand? Take a deep breath. You don't have to be a tech guru to harness the game-changing powers of AI and ChatGPT. You're just one listen away from demolishing the barriers that prevent you from unlocking a wealth of new skills and opportunities.

In Dear Future: You Can Keep The Change, Ronee Hulk offers a haunting and deeply human exploration of artificial intelligence and its quiet unravelling of the systems that once defined who we are. With automation racing ahead of imagination; algorithms deciding what we make, trade, and even how we are valued; Could the global economy fall apart; not through disorder but through the precision of its own design?

A New York Times Notable Book Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction A New York Times Bestseller Named a Best Book of the Year by Smithsonian, Scientific American, and Elle Winner of the Porchlight Business Book Award “A bestselling page-turner that has...