The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant — at The Strand
This was cheap, and I’ve been enjoying the audiobook of his The Life of Greece. So far the introduction has been excellent (and very prescient).
Caps Lock by Ruben Pater — at Mast Books
Seemed like an extremely visual book, so it’s nice to have a paper copy of it rather than reading on Kindle. And it appears to be very interesting, all the more so because I instinctively disagree with its conclusion that capitalism is bad. Importance of diverse perspectives etc…
The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson — at Codex Books
Have heard lots about this and been meaning to read for ages, so I finally picked it up. After 40 minutes of reading I’m enjoying it, though it’s maybe a bit too self-indulgent so far.
The Quintessence of Ibsenism by George Bernard Shaw — at The Strand
I’ve been thinking a lot about theatre and its criticism thanks to this Ivo van Hove book, with a particular interest in Henrik Ibsen after watching Simon Stone’s Ibsen House. So when I saw this I felt I had to buy it.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James — at The Strand
I’ve never read any Henry James and felt like I ought to start.
The Old Regime and the French Revolution by Alexis de Tocqueville — at The Strand
I’ve vaguely been wanting to learn about the French Revolution for a long time, and I liked reading de Tocqueville at uni.
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson — at The Strand
Isaacson’s Steve Jobs book was great, and this book seems like it will tie into my current rabbit holes of progress studies and great people (reading it alongside Dealers of Lightning, The Dream Machine and The Idea Factory will be very interesting, I think.)