By 1979, we knew all that we know now about the science of climate change – what was happening, why it was happening, & how to stop it. Over the next ten years, we had the very real opportunity to stop it. Obviously, we failed. Nathaniel Rich’s groundbreaking account of that failure – & how tantalizingly close we came to signing binding treaties that would have saved us all before the fossil fuels industry & politicians committed to anti-scientific denialism

By 1979, we knew all that we know now about the science of climate change – what was happening, why it was happening, & how to stop it. Over the next ten years, we had the very real opportunity to stop it. Obviously, we failed. Nathaniel Rich’s groundbreaking account of that failure – & how tantalizingly close we came to signing binding treaties that would have saved us all before the fossil fuels industry & politicians committed to anti-scientific denialism

It is not just an agonizing revelation of historical missed opportunities, but a clear-eyed and eloquent assessment of how we … More

With his trademark sardonic wit and lacerating logic, New York Times-bestselling author Thomas Frank exposes how, in the last few decades, the American Left has made an unprecedented shift away from its working-class roots. Financial inequality is one of the biggest political issues of our time: from the Wall Street bail-outs – where bankers still received huge bonuses while thousands of people lost their homes – to the rise of ‘the One Percent’, who between them control 40 percent of US wealth. So where are the Democrats – the notional party of the people – in all this? In his scathing examination of how the Democratic Party has failed to combat financial inequality, despite being given near perfect conditions for success, Thomas Frank argues that the Left in America has abandoned its roots to pursue a new class of supporter: elite professionals.

With his trademark sardonic wit and lacerating logic, New York Times-bestselling author Thomas Frank exposes how, in the last few decades, the American Left has made an unprecedented shift away from its working-class roots. Financial inequality is one of the biggest political issues of our time: from the Wall Street bail-outs – where bankers still received huge bonuses while thousands of people lost their homes – to the rise of ‘the One Percent’, who between them control 40 percent of US wealth. So where are the Democrats – the notional party of the people – in all this? In his scathing examination of how the Democratic Party has failed to combat financial inequality, despite being given near perfect conditions for success, Thomas Frank argues that the Left in America has abandoned its roots to pursue a new class of supporter: elite professionals.

Under this ‘meritocratic’ system, the educated middle class prosper, but ordinary workers continue to suffer. Unless the Democrats remember their … More

Governments today in both Europe & the United States have succeeded in casting government spending as reckless wastefulness that has made the economy worse. In contrast, they have advanced a policy of draconian budget cuts―austerity―to solve the financial crisis. We are told that we have all lived beyond our means & now need to tighten our belts. This view conveniently forgets where all that debt came from. Not from an orgy of government spending, but as the direct result of bailing out, recapitalizing, & adding liquidity to the broken banking system. Through these actions private debt was rechristened as government debt while those responsible for generating it walked away scot free, placing the blame on the state, & the burden on the taxpayer.

Governments today in both Europe & the United States have succeeded in casting government spending as reckless wastefulness that has made the economy worse. In contrast, they have advanced a policy of draconian budget cuts―austerity―to solve the financial crisis. We are told that we have all lived beyond our means & now need to tighten our belts. This view conveniently forgets where all that debt came from. Not from an orgy of government spending, but as the direct result of bailing out, recapitalizing, & adding liquidity to the broken banking system. Through these actions private debt was rechristened as government debt while those responsible for generating it walked away scot free, placing the blame on the state, & the burden on the taxpayer.

In the worst case, austerity policies worsened the Great Depression and created the conditions for seizures of power by the … More

Do you trust the liberal media? While the tabloid & right-wing press – the Sun, The Times, the Mail & the Express – are constantly criticised for dangerous bias, outlets like the BBC & the Guardian are trusted by their readers to report in the interests of the public. However, the reality is that all corporate media is systematically filtered by the powerful interests that own, manage and fund it. Propaganda Blitz shows that the corporate media does not just ‘spin’ the news – it fundamentally distorts everything it touches, hiding the real issues from public view, & often completely reversing the truth.

Do you trust the liberal media? While the tabloid & right-wing press – the Sun, The Times, the Mail & the Express – are constantly criticised for dangerous bias, outlets like the BBC & the Guardian are trusted by their readers to report in the interests of the public. However, the reality is that all corporate media is systematically filtered by the powerful interests that own, manage and fund it. Propaganda Blitz shows that the corporate media does not just ‘spin’ the news – it fundamentally distorts everything it touches, hiding the real issues from public view, & often completely reversing the truth.

This book uncovers a storm of top-down campaigns behind war reporting from Iraq, Syria and Palestine, as well as the … More

Born OTD in 1928, American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist, Noam Chomsky. Profit Over People is one of the key texts explaining how the crisis facing us operates & how, through Chomsky’s analysis of resistance, we may find an escape from the closing net. Why is the Atlantic slowly filling with crude petroleum, threatening a millions-of-years-old ecological balance? Why did traders at prominent banks take high-risk gambles with the money entrusted to them by hundreds of thousands of clients around the world, expanding & leveraging their investments to the point that failure led to a global financial crisis that left millions of people jobless & hundreds of cities economically devastated?

Born OTD in 1928, American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist, Noam Chomsky. Profit Over People is one of the key texts explaining how the crisis facing us operates & how, through Chomsky’s analysis of resistance, we may find an escape from the closing net. Why is the Atlantic slowly filling with crude petroleum, threatening a millions-of-years-old ecological balance? Why did traders at prominent banks take high-risk gambles with the money entrusted to them by hundreds of thousands of clients around the world, expanding & leveraging their investments to the point that failure led to a global financial crisis that left millions of people jobless & hundreds of cities economically devastated?

Why would the worlds most powerful military spend ten years fighting an enemy that presents no direct threat to secure … More

Out now in paperback. We need finance – but when finance grows too big it becomes a curse. The City of London is the single biggest drain on our resources, sucking talent out of every sphere, siphoning wealth and hoovering up government time. Yet to be ‘competitive’, we’re told we must turn a blind eye to money laundering and appease big business with tax cuts. Tracing the curse back through economic history, Nicholas Shaxson uncovers how we got to this point. Moving from offshore tax havens to the bizarre industry of wealth management, he tells the explosive story of how finance established a stranglehold on society – and reveals how we can begin to break free.

Out now in paperback. We need finance – but when finance grows too big it becomes a curse. The City of London is the single biggest drain on our resources, sucking talent out of every sphere, siphoning wealth and hoovering up government time. Yet to be ‘competitive’, we’re told we must turn a blind eye to money laundering and appease big business with tax cuts. Tracing the curse back through economic history, Nicholas Shaxson uncovers how we got to this point. Moving from offshore tax havens to the bizarre industry of wealth management, he tells the explosive story of how finance established a stranglehold on society – and reveals how we can begin to break free.

This is a book that none of us can afford to ignore – an agenda-setting, campaigning investigation that shows how … More

‘Now We Have Your Attention’ makes sense of what is happening in British politics by taking a radically different perspective: the people’s. From a warehouse in Manchester to a pub in Essex, from the outskirts of Glasgow to a racecourse in Durham, Jack Shenker uncovers the root causes of our current crisis and the future direction of British politics through the lives of ordinary individuals. Taking us deep into communities hollowed out by austerity and decades of economic disadvantage, among a generation crippled by precarious work and unaffordable housing, he shows where the chaos at Westminster ultimately springs from – and how disillusionment with it is fuelling a passionate engagement with politics of a completely different kind: local, personal, effective and utterly fearless.

‘Now We Have Your Attention’ makes sense of what is happening in British politics by taking a radically different perspective: the people’s. From a warehouse in Manchester to a pub in Essex, from the outskirts of Glasgow to a racecourse in Durham, Jack Shenker uncovers the root causes of our current crisis and the future direction of British politics through the lives of ordinary individuals. Taking us deep into communities hollowed out by austerity and decades of economic disadvantage, among a generation crippled by precarious work and unaffordable housing, he shows where the chaos at Westminster ultimately springs from – and how disillusionment with it is fuelling a passionate engagement with politics of a completely different kind: local, personal, effective and utterly fearless.

Joining a `McStrike’ protest on a roundabout in Cambridge and a gathering of the London Renters’ Union in the aftermath … More

Next PM Book Club we’ll be discussing Guy Standing’s latest book, ‘Plunder of the Commons’, We are losing the commons. Austerity and neoliberal policies have depleted our shared wealth; our national utilities have been sold off to foreign conglomerates, social housing is almost non-existent, our parks are cordoned off for private events and our national art galleries are sponsored by banks and oil companies. This plunder deprives us all of our common rights, recognized as far back as the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest of 1217, to share fairly and equitably in our public wealth.

Next PM Book Club we’ll be discussing Guy Standing’s latest book, ‘Plunder of the Commons’, We are losing the commons. Austerity and neoliberal policies have depleted our shared wealth; our national utilities have been sold off to foreign conglomerates, social housing is almost non-existent, our parks are cordoned off for private events and our national art galleries are sponsored by banks and oil companies. This plunder deprives us all of our common rights, recognized as far back as the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest of 1217, to share fairly and equitably in our public wealth.

Next Book Club, 6pm. Monday, 7th October in the shop. New members welcome. Book available in store and online.

We are losing the commons. Austerity and neoliberal policies have depleted our shared wealth; our national utilities have been sold off to foreign conglomerates, social housing is almost non-existent, our parks are cordoned off for private events and our national art galleries are sponsored by banks and oil companies. This plunder deprives us all of our common rights, recognized as far back as the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest of 1217, to share fairly and equitably in our public wealth.

We are losing the commons. Austerity and neoliberal policies have depleted our shared wealth; our national utilities have been sold off to foreign conglomerates, social housing is almost non-existent, our parks are cordoned off for private events and our national art galleries are sponsored by banks and oil companies. This plunder deprives us all of our common rights, recognized as far back as the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest of 1217, to share fairly and equitably in our public wealth.

Guy Standing leads us through a new appraisal of the commons, stemming from the medieval concept of common land reserved … More

Are oil-rich countries prone to war? And, if so, why? There is a widely held belief that contemporary wars are motivated by the desire of great powers like the United States or Russia to control precious oil resources and to ensure energy security. This book argues that the main reason why oil-rich countries are prone to war is because of the character of their society and economy. Sectarian groups compete for access to oil resources and finance their military adventures through smuggling oil, kidnapping oil executives, or blowing up pipelines. Outside intervention only makes things worse..

Are oil-rich countries prone to war? And, if so, why? There is a widely held belief that contemporary wars are motivated by the desire of great powers like the United States or Russia to control precious oil resources and to ensure energy security. This book argues that the main reason why oil-rich countries are prone to war is because of the character of their society and economy. Sectarian groups compete for access to oil resources and finance their military adventures through smuggling oil, kidnapping oil executives, or blowing up pipelines. Outside intervention only makes things worse..

..The use of conventional military force as in Iraq can bring neither stability nor security of supply. This book examines … More