Profile Books

Click here for more information about ‘The Checklist Manifesto’

The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things right
Atul Gawande
Today we find ourselves in possession of stupendous know-how, which we willingly place in the hands of the most highly skilled and hard-working people. Yet avoidable failures are common, and the reason is simple: the volume and complexity of our knowledge has exceeded our ability to consistently deliver it to people – correctly, safely or efficiently.
MORE

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution
Nick Lane
How did life invent itself? Where did DNA come from? How did humans develop sight? Nick Lane draws upon the findings of powerful new research to piece together the mosaic of life’s remarkable history. A mini-lecture by the author on the origins of complex life, recently given at University College London, can be viewed here.
MORE

Click here for more information about ‘Life Ascending’

	A View From The Foothills: The Diaries of Chris Mullin Chris Mullin Alan Clarke meets Yes Minister in this wry and self-deprecating diary about life in the New Labour Government from 1999 to 2007. Says Mullin, ‘It is said that failed politicians make the best diarists. In which case I am in with a chance.’ MORE

Ten Technologies to Fix Energy and Climate Chris Goodall Everyone agrees we need to slash global greenhouse emissions. But how do we actually achieve that? Politicians can set targets and consumers can try to live greener lives. But the world will only avoid runaway global warming with the help of technological breakthroughs. MORE

Click here for more information about ‘How to Make a Tornado’

How to Make a Tornado: The strange and wonderful things that happen when scientists break free
New Scientist
Science tells us grand things about the universe: how fast light travels, and why stones fall to earth. But scientific endeavour goes far beyond these obvious foundations. There are some fields we don't often hear about because they are so specialised, or turn out to be dead ends. Yet researchers have given hallucinogenic drugs to blind people (seriously), tried to weigh the soul as it departs the body and planned to blast a new Panama Canal with atomic weapons.
MORE

Click here for more information about ‘Empires of the Imagination’

Empires of the Imagination: Politics, War, and the Arts in the British World, 1750–1850
Holger Hoock
Between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries, Britain evolved from a substantial international power yet relative artistic backwater into a global superpower and a leading cultural force in Europe. In this original and wide-ranging book, Hoock illuminates the manifold ways in which the culture of power and the power of culture were interwoven in this period of dramatic change.
MORE

What Darwin Got Wrong
Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini
Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini, a distinguished philosopher and scientist working in tandem, reveal major flaws at the heart of Darwinian evolutionary theory. They do not deny Darwin’s status as an outstanding scientist but question the inferences he drew from his observations. Combining the results of cutting-edge work in experimental biology with crystal-clear philosophical argument they mount a devastating critique of the central tenets of Darwin’s account of the origin of species.
MORE

Click here for more information about ‘What Darwin Got Wrong’

Click here for more information about ‘Rules Are Not Enough’

Rules Are Not Enough: The art of good governance in the real world
Rupert Merson
Governance is receiving a lot of attention at the moment. In every recession and after every corporate collapse there’s a determination to learn the lesson this time, so it’s not surprising that corporate governance is again in the spotlight, and the usual questions are being asked. What is the role of the director? Should there be more, less or better regulation? How should remuneration of executives be set? To whom should directors be accountable? And the scandal of MPs’ expenses is a governance issue too: the language may change, but the questions remain similar. What is the role of the Speaker? Should MPs be responsible for determining their own pay? How should MPs’ expenses claims be settled and regulated?
MORE

Click here for more information about ‘We Were There’

We Were There: An Eyewitness History of the Twentieth Century
Robert Fox
What was it like to be there at the very moment when great events took place; when great figures strode onto the world stage; when the wonderful, the terrible, the diverting and the just plain curious happened? In this acclaimed collection of eyewitness reportage, Robert Fox brings together accounts from soldiers, journalists, poets, scientists, adventurers, chance bystanders and many more to create a vivid, compelling history of the twentieth century as it happened.
MORE

The Unwritten Laws of Finance and Investment
Robert Cole
While most financial and investment advice focuses on recent trends, or encourages consumers to buy a favoured product, this book breaks the mould, offering eternal wisdom that draws on years of expensive failures and enviable successes. Following on from the success of James Skakoon's The Unwritten Laws of Business, this approachable but thoughtful gem brings together these useful lessons for the first time.
MORE

Click here for more information about ‘The Unwritten Laws of Finance and Investment’

Click here for more information about ‘Strength in What Remains’

Strength in What Remains
Tracy Kidder
An inspiring story of survival by the award-winning author of The Soul of a New Machine.
MORE