‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.21, 17th November 2022:
Published thirty-five years ago, this book is simple, comprehensive, diverse, and more importantly, fun! Based on many different sources, it’s one of the best introductions to the history and theory and anarchism because ditches the often dry academic prose of such guides for an involving narrative.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.22, 10th December 2022:
What do Extinction Rebellion and Hollywood superheroes have in common? They both uncritically preserve the bureaucratic status quo by breaking the rules of everyday conduct.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.23, 28th December 2022:
All religions have problems with ‘unbelievers’, but that response is insignificant compared to their visceral hatred of ‘apostates’. This is why mainstream media and liberal commentators react so strongly against anarcho-primitivism and neoluddism.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.24, 12th January 2023:
Some books are so well observed, so prescient, that even their supporters are seemingly overwhelmed by their material implications, and turn away from the truths they annunciate: ‘Small is Beautiful’ is such an example.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.25, 16th February 2023:
Proudhon, Property, and the Political Panic over ‘The Great Resignation’ – how this classic text prefigures the contemporary debate over work and well-being.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.26, Full Pink Moon 2023:
Politicians and the media obsess about ‘economic growth’; but what if that ‘glorious thirty years’ of economic expansion from the 1960s has ended? This landmark text of the degrowth movement explores why growth’s ‘end is nigh’, and why this should be welcomed.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.27, Full Flower Moon 2023:
Though, ‘Overshoot’, is ostensibly a book about biophysical limits, the theme that runs through it is about the human propensity for denying obvious facts: Our ability to deceive not only others, but more importantly, ourselves.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.28, Strawberry Moon 2023:
Some books get a ‘reputation’ as a result of what people believe they say rather than on a detailed reading of the text. Just a word in the title – for example, ‘collapse’ – can be enough to invalidate their content without any appreciation of what they actually say.