1. Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell
John Preston
This “superb, pacey account” charts the late Robert Maxwell’s “ascent from shtetl boyhood” to self-made publishing billionaire and “eventual cartoon madman”, says The Daily Telegraph. Truly “jaw-dropping”.
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2. Empire of Pain
Patrick Radden Keefe
A gripping and “meticulously researched” account of how Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family, marketed the addictive painkiller OxyContin – fuelling the US opioid crisis, says The Times. “Read it and rage.”
3. A Shot to Save the World
Gregory Zuckerman
An “appropriately breathless” account of the race to find a Covid vaccine, says Andrew Hill in the FT. Zuckerman shows how “catastrophe” transformed the fortunes of “tiny, visionary ventures”.
4. Three Days at Camp David
Jeffrey E. Garten
In this “outstanding book”, says Martin Wolf in the FT, Garten describes the secret 1971 meeting at which President Nixon decided to sever the link between the dollar and gold – beginning “a new monetary order”.
5. Toxic
Clive Lewis
A business psychologist’s guide on how to deal with “toxic” colleagues, says The Times: the unkind, the hostile, the “downright abusive”. “Required reading for company bosses.”
6. The Future of Money
Eswar S. Prasad
“An invaluable overview” of how digital technologies are transforming currencies and finance, says Martin Wolf in the FT. As Prasad summarises: “A glorious future beckons, perhaps.”
7. 12 Bytes
Jeanette Winterson
The novelist’s “anarchically playful” essays cover the history of computing, AI and the cloud, says The Daily Telegraph. She imagines a future in which “sexbots are hacked by feminist programmers”.
8. Pugnare: Economic Success and Failure
George Maher
The rise and fall of the Roman Empire – from a financial perspective. When inflation kicked in, stability collapsed, says Merryn Somerset Webb in the FT. “The banking system appears to have completely failed in AD260. And that was that.”
9. The Aristocracy of Talent
Adrian Wooldridge
This “sparkling” if disturbing study shows how much less meritocratic our society has become since the late 20th century, says The Daily Telegraph. An elegant defence of talent.
10. The Cult of We
Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell
This “modern tale of the emperor’s new clothes” charts how Adam Neumann convinced everyone “that his property start-up was worth $47bn”, says The Times. “Drugs, tequila, private jets and a worrying messiah complex.”
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Death in Minneapolis: a shooting dividing the USIn the Spotlight Federal response to Renee Good’s shooting suggest priority is ‘vilifying Trump’s perceived enemies rather than informing the public’
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The Curious Case of Mike Lynch: an ‘excellent, meticulously researched’ biographyThe Week Recommends Katie Prescott’s book examines Lynch’s life and business dealings, along with his ‘terrible’ end
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Can You Keep a Secret? Dawn French’s new comedy is a ‘surprising treat’The Week Recommends Warm, funny show about an insurance scam is ‘beautifully performed’
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Hamnet: a ‘slick weepie’ released in time for Oscar glory?Talking Point Heartbreaking adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel has a ‘strangely smooth’ surface
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Book reviews: ‘The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game’ and ‘The Sea Captain’s Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World’Feature Comparing life to a game and a twist on the traditional masculine seafaring tale
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Brigitte Bardot: the bombshell who embodied the new FranceFeature The actress retired from cinema at 39, and later become known for animal rights activism and anti-Muslim bigotry
