Books

A Very Expensive Poison Luke Harding Luke Harding’s investigation of the polonium poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London and the trail leading back to the Kremlin. 1 recommender All the King’s Men Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer-winning novel of populist demagogue Willie Stark and the corrupting machinery of political power. 1 recommender Best Evidence David S. Lifton A controversial best-selling investigation of the JFK assassination, arguing the medical evidence was altered between Dallas and the autopsy. 1 recommender Burn-In Burn-In P.W. Singer, August Cole A techno-thriller following an FBI agent partnered with an advanced robot, built on real near-future AI and automation research. 1 recommender Deep Thinking Garry Kasparov, Mig Greengard Kasparov's account of losing to IBM's Deep Blue and what two decades of man-versus-machine chess taught him about the real promise of artificial intelligence. Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual Mark Dvoretsky The modern classic of endgame study — rigorous training material trusted by generations of masters and serious students of chess. 1 recommender Fingerprints of the Gods Graham Hancock A globe-spanning investigation arguing that an advanced civilization was lost to prehistory, leaving traces in monuments, maps, and myths. 1 recommender Food of the Gods Terence McKenna An ethnobotanist’s exploration of humanity’s ancient relationship with psychoactive plants and how altered states shaped human evolution and culture. 1 recommender How Life Imitates Chess Garry Kasparov Lessons in strategy, preparation, and decision-making drawn from Kasparov's two decades at the top of world chess, applied to business and life. Mr. Putin Fiona Hill, Clifford G. Gaddy Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy’s analytical portrait of Vladimir Putin through the identities that shape how he rules. 1 recommender Red Famine Anne Applebaum Anne Applebaum’s account of the Holodomor — Stalin’s engineered famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in 1932–33 — and its long political aftermath. 1 recommender Red Notice Bill Browder Bill Browder’s memoir of investing in post-Soviet Russia, the murder of his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, and his fight for justice. 1 recommender The Book of Five Rings Miyamoto Musashi The legendary undefeated samurai’s treatise on strategy, combat, and mastery — read for centuries as a guide to excellence in any discipline. 1 recommender The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep David Satter David Satter’s case that post-Soviet Russia’s descent into authoritarianism was built on manufactured terror and manipulated truth. 1 recommender The Man Without a Face Masha Gessen Masha Gessen’s account of Vladimir Putin’s rise from KGB officer to unchallenged ruler of Russia. 1 recommender The Reformer Stephen F. Williams The story of Vasily Maklakov, the liberal lawyer who fought to steer late imperial Russia toward reform before revolution closed the door. 1 recommender The War of Art Steven Pressfield A field guide to beating “Resistance” — the internal force that stops creative work — and showing up to do the work like a professional. 1 recommender Winter Is Coming Garry Kasparov, Mig Greengard A first-hand warning about Vladimir Putin's consolidation of power, written by the chess champion turned opposition leader who watched it happen.