Recommended reading from our senior leaders and advisors
Cultivated from the recommendations of our leaders – this list of 15 titles represents a wealth of perspectives and topics that covers both contemporary and more traditional works.
Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine
By Gen. David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts
Conflict is both a sweeping history of the evolution of warfare up to Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and a penetrating analysis of what we must learn from the past—and anticipate in the future—in order to navigate an increasingly perilous world.
Killing Thatcher: The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown
By Rory Carroll
Killing Thatcher is the gripping account of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Margaret Thatcher and wiping out the British Cabinet – an extraordinary assassination attempt linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles and the most daring conspiracy against the Crown since the Gunpowder Plot.
The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma
By Mustafa Suleyman
In The Coming Wave, Suleyman makes the argument that AI and other fast-developing technologies will create immense prosperity, but also threaten the nation-state, the foundation of global order. As the author – who has been described as “the ultimate AI insider” – rivetingly describes it, fragile governments are sleepwalking into disaster, a looming existential dilemma with unprecedented harm on the one side and the threat of overbearing surveillance on the other.
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
By James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams
Unscripted portrays the inside story of the struggle for power and control at Paramount Global, the multibillion-dollar entertainment empire controlled by the Redstone family, and the dysfunction, misconduct, and deceit that threatened the future of the company, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists who first broke the story.
The Candy House
By Jennifer Egan
The Candy House opens on the staggeringly brilliant Bix Bouton, CEO of the fictional company Mandala, who is “one of those tech demi-gods with whom we’re all on a first name basis.” Bix is desperate for a new idea, when he stumbles into a conversation group, mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or “externalizing” memory. Within a decade, Bix’s new technology, “Own Your Unconscious”—which allows you access to every memory you’ve ever had and to share your memories in exchange for the memories of others—has seduced multitudes. It has been described as “A beautiful exploration of loss, memory, and history” (San Francisco Chronicle).
One Hundred Saturdays
By Michael Frank
The remarkable story of ninety-nine-year-old Stella Levi, whose conversations with the author over the course of six years bring to life the vibrant world of the Jewish community on the Greek island of Rhodes, the deportation to Auschwitz that extinguished ninety percent of that community, and the resilience and wisdom of the woman who lived to tell the tale.
Let Us Descend
By Jesmyn Ward
Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel follows the heroine, an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War, on a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.
Lady Tan's Circle of Women
By Lisa See
From “one of those special writers capable of delivering both poetry and plot” (The New York Times Book Review) Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is an immersive historical novel inspired by the true story of a woman physician in 15th-century China—perfect for fans of Lisa See’s classics Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.
How to Say Babylon
By Safiya Sinclair
During her childhood, Safiya Sinclair’s father, a reggae musician and militant adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, was obsessed with maintaining her purity, and in particular with the threat of what Rastas call ‘Babylon’, the immoral and corrupting influence of the Western world outside the home. How to Say Babylon follows Safiya's journey from a sheltered and frightened Rasta girl in Jamaica to a strong, self-assertive woman — and explores how poetry helped her to find her voice.
Demon Copperhead
By Barbara Kingsolver
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy, born to a teenaged single mother, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Told in the eponymous hero’s unsparing voice, we follow as Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves and crushing losses – and reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
The Future of Geography: How the Competition in Space Will Change Our World
By Tim Marshall
In this gripping work, bestselling author Tim Marshall navigates the new geopolitical landscape to show how we got here and where we are heading. Extensively researched and drawing on the latest information from government sources and civilian institutions, The Future of Geography provides a detailed, clear account of the ‘new space race’, and the great power rivalries, new technologies, changing economics and wars that are having a ripple effect on everyone across the globe.
Wizard of the Kremlin
By Giuliano da Empoli
Known as the “Wizard of the Kremlin,” the enigmatic Vadim Baranov was a TV producer before becoming a political advisor to Putin, aka “The Czar.” Following his resignation from this position, legends about him begin to multiply, with no one able to distinguish truth from fiction – until one night, he tells his story to the narrator of this book.
Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
By Chris Miller
In Chip War, economic historian Chris Miller recounts the fascinating sequence of events that led to the United States perfecting a microchip design, and the way faster chip technology helped defeat the Soviet Union. This fascinating book is an epic account of the decades-long battle to control what has emerged as the world's most critical resource.
Walk through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Triumph
By Sheila Johnson
From humble beginnings as a schoolgirl and young violinist in Maywood, Illinois, Sheila Johnson rose to become one of the most accomplished businesswomen in America. The cofounder of the Black Entertainment Network (BET) and first African American woman billionaire shares her deeply personal journey through love and loss, tragedy and triumph.
10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, And Found Self-Help That Really Works
By Dan Harris
10% Happier by Nightline Anchor Dan Harris recounts his journey to mindfulness meditation. It explores how the news anchor stumbled into meditation, and how it helped him to become happier, less stressed, and more focused. An unexpected, hilarious, and deeply skeptical odyssey through the strange worlds of spirituality and self-help.
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