The most important nonfiction books of the month: How Pankaj Mishra sees the war in Gaza, and why the super-rich are so obsessed with the end of the world
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Instead of a life in paradise, tech billionaires are preparing for "the event." The impending catastrophe. Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff tries to explain why.
Wolfgang Benz: Exile: A History of Expulsion 1933–1945
Hundreds of thousands were forced to flee when the Nazis seized power in Germany. Wolfgang Benz aims to provide a comprehensive picture of emigration from Hitler's Germany.
Taina Tervonen: The Repair of the Living
Senem identifies bones from mass graves in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Darija visits families of missing people. Two women search for the truth in a war-torn country.
Pankaj Mishra: The World After Gaza
Pankaj Mishra promises a critical analysis of the war in the Middle East in his new book. But looking through postcolonial lenses leaves the Indian author virtually blind.
Jan Markert: William I.
A weak king and a chancellor who rules: This remains the image of Wilhelm I and Otto von Bismarck to this day. Historian Jan Markert fundamentally revises it.
Ilka Quindeau: Psychoanalysis and Antisemitism
Antisemitism seems to be an anthropological constant. In any case, hatred of Jews cannot be eradicated. But how can it be explained? Ilka Quindeau attempts to use psychoanalysis.
Sergei Lebedev: No! Voices from Russia against the war
Even before the invasion of Ukraine began, the critical Russian intelligentsia was harassed by the Putin regime, and since February 24, 2022, it has been in shock.
Julian Baggini: How the World Thinks
Philosophy is not a Western concern. Systems of thought were also developed in Asia and Africa. Julian Baggini presents a global history of philosophy. And he idealizes more than he explains.
Dietmar Pieper. Churchill and the Germans
Without Churchill, Germany would not have been liberated from the Nazis. But the Germans never forgave him for the air war: Dietmar Pieper paints a new picture of the British wartime Prime Minister.
The best non-fiction books in March Roberto Saviano: Loyalty
The mafia is a man's game. At least in its core business: threatening, extorting, and killing. But that's no way to run a crime syndicate. Roberto Saviano shows the role women play in the clans.
Donatella Di Cesare: When Auschwitz is negated.
Since October 7, 2023, violence against Jews has increased. Holocaust deniers are also spreading their conspiracy theories more uninhibitedly than ever. Donatella Di Cesare shows how they manipulate history.
Riccardo Nicolosi: Putin's war rhetoric
Putin isn't a gifted speaker. He favors a pseudo-legal tone that portrays Russia as the guardian of international law and the West as a fraud. Nevertheless, it's worth listening to him.
Louise Morel: Becoming a Lesbian
Becoming lesbians because they're fed up with men: this is what activist Louise Morel advises women. This way of thinking reveals, above all, the misguided path identity politics has taken.
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