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dr.Pep
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Copyright © 2023 Pepijn van der Laan.
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Africa and Africans have never been taken seriously by the Western world, simplifying the story of the continent to ‘famine and safaris’

Africa and Africans have never been taken seriously by the Western world, simplifying the story of the continent to ‘famine and safaris’

Dipo Faloyin – Africa is not a country

Well known story told in a fresh style, which unfortunately still serves a purpose.

The issues and conflicts plaguing modern Spain are rooted in a troubled history that until shockingly recently was a dictatorship

The issues and conflicts plaguing modern Spain are rooted in a troubled history that until shockingly recently was a dictatorship

Tobias Buck – After the fall

Great overview that brings together different perspectives in a shocking narrative without becoming judgemental.

The initial strength of the Hanseatic League was the fluidity of the institution, but that also limited the degree to which it could scale its power

The initial strength of the Hanseatic League was the fluidity of the institution, but that also limited the degree to which it could scale its power

Carsten Jahnke – Die Hanse (read in German)

Nice to read as an example of a successful alternative power structure (in the sense of Graeber en Wengrow), that is nonetheless is firmly rooted in proto-capitalist principles.

A subversive branch of the French royal family has been responsible for the emergence of the low countries as a geopolitical entity

A subversive branch of the French royal family has been responsible for the emergence of the low countries as a geopolitical entity

Bart de Loo – The Burgundians (read in Dutch)

Politics and court life in the high middle ages evoked in a juicy style.

Fishermen tend to kill the thing they love

Fishermen tend to kill the thing they love

Mark Kurlansky – Cod

Everything you always wanted to know about the economic, cultural, historical, and culinary significance of cod.

Once people realize that the US will never ever be able to pay off its debt, inflation will skyrocket and the the economy will be in shambles

Once people realize that the US will never ever be able to pay off its debt, inflation will skyrocket and the the economy will be in shambles

Peter Schiff – The real crash

Good diagnosis of current monetary policy, but combined with a disappointingly naive belief in the free market as panacea.

Back in the day, the Mayas may have captured some Vikings

Back in the day, the Mayas may have captured some Vikings

The year 1000 – Valerie Hansen

Most intriguing where the described ‘globalization’ takes the for of trade – rather than old-fashioned conquest

The contemporary art  market bubble is kept afloat by a handful of mega dealers

The contemporary art market bubble is kept afloat by a handful of mega dealers

Michael Shnayerson – Boom

The metroric rise of art prices is a fascinating topic, but the author get a bit lost in his effort to ducoment each twist or turn in the lives of the secondary characters in his story.

Forget about stopping climate change, but don´t let that stop you fighting it

Forget about stopping climate change, but don´t let that stop you fighting it

David Wallace-Wells – The uninhabitable earth

The book clearly illustrates that climate change is the prisoner’s dilemma ‘par excellence’

Running a socially responsible business is often just egotism in disguise

Running a socially responsible business is often just egotism in disguise

Anad Giridharadas – Winners take all

Giridharas key argument is that elites only support change to the point where their privilege is not endangered.

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Copyright © 2023 Pepijn van der Laan.
All rights reserved.