What is the 'must read for 2023' selected by the British economic magazine 'The Economist'?
The Economist , a British weekly newspaper that mainly focuses on international politics and economics, has published its ``2023 Best Book List.'' There are six book genres: ``Current Affairs and Politics,'' ``Business and Economics,'' ``Biography and Memoirs,'' ``History,'' ``Fiction,'' ``Culture and Thought,'' and ``Science and Technology,'' with a total of 55 books listed. .
The best books of 2023, as chosen by The Economist
◆Current affairs and politics
・01: “ Deadly Quiet City: True Stories from Wuhan ” by Murong Xuecun
This book was written in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic began, and a prominent Chinese author interviewed people in Wuhan, Hubei Province about their experiences during the lockdown.
・02: “
A non-fiction story about a mother whose daughter was kidnapped and murdered by a drug cartel in Mexico, and pursues justice by tracking down the drug cartel on her own.
・03: '
A book that reveals the struggle of Korean feminists for global resonance and equality. It scathingly describes how many Koreans still think of women as 'cooks, vacuum cleaners, and 'baby-making machines'' and tells stories of misogyny from sexual assault to inequality in public office.
・04: “
A chronicle of the evangelical movement in America. The author, a writer for the American monthly magazine The Atlantic , depicts with anger and sadness the religious world in which he grew up being taken over by power-hungry swindlers and right-wing nationalists.
・05: “ Some People Need Killing ” by Patricia Evangelista
A Filipino journalist reports on the anti-illegal drug campaign carried out by Rodrigo Duterte , the 16th president of the Philippines. The war on drugs, which has resulted in 27,000 extrajudicial killings, is supported by the majority of Filipinos.
・06: '
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist explains the work of 'underground historians,' a group of scholars, artists, filmmakers, and journalists who seek to revise China's official records and explain the truth of history.
◆Business and economy
・07: '
Ghana's John Acker Brey Meezer infiltrated hundreds to thousands of people by spreading lies for about 20 years, from 1970 to 1990, that he knew where large sums of money were hidden. Continued to fool investors. In this book, he is described in detail as ``a fraudster who accomplished one of the world's greatest transformations.''
・08: “
This book passionately argues that the United Nations' vast and vague Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should be replaced with ``12 cost-effective policies to help the world's poor.'' 'Some current policies are difficult to implement, costly, and do little good. Others can be solved at low cost and with significant results.' The author talks about priorities.
・09: “
An economics professor at Stanford University has developed a new theory called the ``Fiscal Theory of Price Levels,'' in which government debt, rather than interest rates, determines prices. According to The Economist, it is an exciting theory for economists and perfect for an era of large deficits and high inflation.
・10: “
A leading technology and business expert from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) proposes ideas that will inspire Silicon Valley. It focuses on how to avoid bureaucracy through teamwork, rapid prototyping, and increased personal responsibility, and explains how it can be usefully applied to other areas of life and business.
・11 “
This book, co-authored by an Oxford University academic and a journalist, examines why big projects often run into trouble meeting deadlines and budgets, and how to deal with them.
・12: “
A book that travels around the world and investigates how six important substances - copper, iron, lithium, oil, salt, and sand - have changed human history and supported the modern economy.
・013: “
This book deals with an important and neglected question in finance: not 'what to buy or sell,' but 'how much to sell.' Even sophisticated professionals tend to be slow in answering this question and lose fortunes as a result. Although it is a mathematical financial theory, it is not overly difficult to understand, making it a book that anyone interested in financial markets will find interesting.
・014: “
The former executive at Google and financial services company Stripe offers a practical guide to all the basics of management, from giving feedback and delegating to running meetings and building teams.
・015: “
The film explores the final years of American media mogul Sumner Redstone , who passed away in 2020, and delves into the details of Sumner's tyrannical personality and erratic behavior, including sometimes excruciating descriptions.
◆Biography and Memoirs
・16: “
Author Finkelstein's maternal grandfather, Alfred Wiener, was a prominent German Jew who created the most extensive archive documenting the Holocaust, and whose wife and daughters were sent to concentration camps. . Mr. Finkelstein's paternal grandmother also experienced concentration camps in Siberia. Each one tells an eloquent story of survival, how they lived in times of hardship.
・17: “
An exciting and agonizing biography of Ian Fleming, creator of the famous James Bond 007 series.
・18: “
Candido Rondon, an orphan from a poor region of Brazil, rose to military rank overseeing monumental earthworks in the Amazon and pioneering a nonviolent approach to local indigenous peoples. A New York Times journalist vividly portrays a hero with a humanism that was ahead of his time.
・19: “
A biography of J.L. Austin, who had a great influence on philosophical research at Oxford and played an important role as an intelligence analyst during the Allied invasion of France in 1944.
・20: “
An epic biography that focuses on all of Dr. Martin Luther King's efforts.
・21: “
Biography of American economist Milton Friedman. Friedman is known as the economist who did more than anyone else to promote free market reforms around the world in the 1980s, and this book chronicles his role in shaping laissez-faire economic policy and liberal thought. Masu.
・22: “
A work in which the chief art critic of the Financial Times skillfully explains the life and works of Claude Monet, a French painter representing Impressionism.
・23: “ Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory ” by Janet Malcolm
A posthumous memoir about the New York writer who passed away in 2021, records her childhood and the stories she wrote with a unique sharpness.
・24: '
A memoir by a Uyghur poet living in exile in the United States, telling how he survived detention and torture by the Chinese government.
・25: '
A thought-provoking biography about the life of Eileen O'Shaughnessy, the wife of George Orwell, known for her roles in `` 1984 '' and `` Animal Farm .''
◆History
・26: “
History
An American journalist based in Jerusalem investigates the events leading up to the 2012 bus crash in the West Bank that killed six Palestinian children and a teacher. While blaming and lamenting history and journalism, it insists that this accident and the trauma that followed must not be forgotten.
・27: “
A book that provides an easy-to-understand explanation of the revolutionary period in England in the 17th century.
・28: “
A Cambridge University professor known for his passion for exploring the 'true history' of Rome researches and explains 30 Roman emperors.
・29: “
A history of pioneering women who fought for outdoor sports, including cyclists, hikers, mountaineers, and runners.
・30: “
An authoritative book that examines the efforts to prosecute Japanese generals and politicians responsible for World War II.
・31: “
It details the rise and fall of Patrice Lumumba, who served as Prime Minister of Congo for just three months in 1960 after independence, until his assassination.
・32: '
A Cambridge historian traces the events of 1848, when revolutions spread across most of Europe. This book features the idealists, thinkers, propagandists, and cynics who played important roles, and argues that their sacrifices were not in vain.
・33: “
It contains an interesting account of the indigenous peoples of Europe in the 16th century.
・34: “
The author of ' Killers of the Flower Moon, ' which was made into a movie in 2023, describes the thrilling record of a shipwreck discovered in 1741 off the coast of Patagonia, south of the Colorado River in South America. I am.
◆Fiction
・35: “
A story of an unhappy family told from different perspectives. Her compelling storytelling evokes a teenage girl's anger, a boy's fear, her father's secrets, and her mother's disappointment and sadness.
・36: “
A historical novel that focuses on a butcher who is said to be the heir to a British aristocracy, a former slave who supports the butcher, and a female writer.
・37: “
Set in East Berlin at the end of the German Democratic Republic, this film depicts an affair between a middle-aged male academic and a young female student. The book masterfully interweaves personal matters with politics and history, creating an attractive structure that leaves readers uneasy.
・38: “
Set in a house in the woods of Massachusetts, the story spans four centuries. It is fascinating to consider what has been lost throughout history.
・39: “
Winner of the Booker Prize in 2023. The film follows a mother of four trying to keep her family together in a fictional dystopian Ireland where the government has succumbed to authoritarianism and trampled on civil liberties.
・40: “
A deft and disturbing exploration of motherhood, touching on how difficult it is to complete everyday tasks with a toddler in tow, like making breakfast or going to the supermarket.
・41: “
After the death of her mother, the narrator, 11-year-old Gopi, takes up squash, a game her late father once encouraged her to play. A slim and delicate debut novel about grief and growth that evokes powerful emotions in an elegant style.
◆Culture and ideology
・42: “
There are only about eight species of bears left in the world, including pandas, polar bears, and grizzly bears. Journalists travel around the world to meet eight species of bears, uncovering the environments and challenges facing these endangered bears.
・43: “
Gradualism argues that humanity has grown more prosperous by continuing to make small improvements over a long period of time. Extreme reforms tend to result in bloodshed, censorship, etc., while gradualism works more slowly.
・44 “High Caucasus” by Tom Parfitt
A travelogue about hiking across the Caucasus Mountains, from Russia's Black Sea coast to the Caspian Sea.
・45 “
An academic book focused on cancel culture by a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. Cancel culture refers to a movement that seeks to oust politicians through inappropriate comments or actions, such as digging up politicians' pasts or inciting them to fight on social media. It is often discussed that modern politics has become ``identity politics,'' where people's personalities and lifestyles are attracting more attention than just policies and public affairs.
・46: “
This book argues that the common understanding that science and religion are opposites is a misconception, and that they interact as two ways of understanding the world. Religion gave rise to critical thinking that valued scientific knowledge, and science was often inspired by a consciousness that valued forces beyond our common sense.
・47: ' Pandora's Box: The Greed, Lust, and Lies That Broke Television ' by Peter Biskind
A scandalous behind-the-scenes story sealed in Pandora's Box during the golden age of television at the beginning of the 21st century. The author claims that TV shows back then were much more dangerous than they are now, broke many rules, and were full of originality.
・48: “
What is it that makes people obsessively want to board a small boat and sail around the world's oceans? The question is asked in an attractive and beautiful way.
・49: “
This book is an in-depth crime investigation that seeks to understand the 'darkness and violence that lurks beneath the surface of many lives.' An important subject is Malcolm MacArthur, who committed serial murder in Ireland in 1982.
◆Science and technology
・50: '
Suleiman, co-founder of AI giant DeepMind, takes a sober look at AI's potential to transform the economy and society, as well as the risks of AI misuse and a surveillance society. Mr. Suleiman said about the book, ``Writing about the dark side of AI was a heartbreaking task. I hope that I am wrong.''
・51: “
A climate journalist takes an in-depth look at how rising temperatures threaten the environment and society. The Economist called it ``one of the few books on climate change that anyone can pick up and understand.''
・52: “
An expert on living longer reveals how outdated much of modern medicine is. What should people do to live longer and healthier lives?
・53: “
A book that focuses on the medical scandal that occurred at a pediatric gender clinic in the UK and tackles the controversy over how to confront children's gender identity.
・54: '
This book warns that cheap and delicious 'ultra-processed foods' come at a huge cost.
・55: '
A writer specializing in natural history explains the appeal of owls based on recent research.
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