BVBook Verdict

Nonfiction

Politics & Society, Explained

Books that make sense of how we live together.

14 books · ranked

  1. 1

    The New Jim Crow

    Michelle Alexander · 2010 · Politics & Society

    How mass incarceration recreates racial caste in America; a powerful, much-cited argument.

  2. 2

    Between the World and Me

    Ta-Nehisi Coates · 2015 · Politics & Society

    A letter to a son about being Black in America; urgent, lyrical and unflinching.

  3. 3

    The Origins of Totalitarianism

    Hannah Arendt · 1951 · Politics & Society

    How totalitarian movements rise; a demanding but essential work of political thought.

  4. 4

    Caste

    Isabel Wilkerson · 2020 · Politics & Society

    American racism reframed as a caste system, compared with India and Nazi Germany; ambitious and resonant.

  5. 5

    Evicted

    Matthew Desmond · 2016 · Politics & Society

    Poverty and the housing crisis told through eight families; immersive, humane reporting.

  6. 6

    The Shock Doctrine

    Naomi Klein · 2007 · Politics & Society

    How crises are used to push through unpopular economic policy; a fierce, influential polemic.

  7. 7

    A Century Of Dishonor

    Helen Hunt Jackson · 1881 · Politics & Society

    Originally published over 100 years ago, A Century of Dishonor is Helen Jackson’s eye- opening sketch of the U.S. government’s often shameful mishandling of what was called the “Indian problem”. Using

  8. 8

    American Government

    James Q. Wilson · 1980 · Politics & Society

    This classic text, known for its authoritative scholarship, clarity, and comprehensive coverage, explores the foundations of our national political system and shows how the fundamental features of our

  9. 9

    Atlas Shrugged (Centennial Ed. HC)

    Ayn Rand · 1936 · Politics & Society

    The year 2005 marks Ayn Rand's Centennial Year.The astounding story of a man that said that he would stop the motor of the world-and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrug

  10. 10

    Bartleby, the Scrivener

    Herman Melville · 1966 · Politics & Society

    "Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by Herman Melville. The story first appeared, anonymously, in Putnam's Magazine in two parts. The first part appeared in November 1853

  11. 11

    Bel-Ami

    Guy de Maupassant · 1893 · Politics & Society

    .I Quand la caissiere lui eut rendu la monnaie de sa piece de cent sous, Georges Duroy sortit du restaurant. Comme il portait beau, par nature et par pose d'ancien sous-officier, il cambra sa taille,

  12. 12

    Buried Alive

    Arnold Bennett · 1910 · Politics & Society

    No one in England would recognize famous painter Priam Farll, as he has lived abroad for many years. He is also quite shy and decides to change identities with his valet so not to be bothered by visit

  13. 13

    Coniston

    Winston Churchill · 1906 · Politics & Society

    This book is about a love-story of long ago, of a time some little while after General Jackson had got into the White House and had shown the world what a real democracy was. The Era of the first six

  14. 14

    De amor y de sombra

    Isabel Allende · 1984 · Politics & Society

    En palabras de la propia Isabel Allende, De amor y de sombra «es la historia de una mujer y un hombre que se amaron en plenitud, salvándose así de una historia vulgar. La he llevado en la memoria cuid

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