ecember brings with it the Christmas season and, just as importantly, the best–books–of–the–year lists. This year was trying—the war in Ukraine entered its third year and looks to continue into the fourth; strategic competition with China is heating up; the race for AI market dominance could well shape humanity’s future, and more. The books I chose for my best reads of the year (in no particular order below) reflect these dynamics, but also offer a few respites and a touch of optimism. Happy holidays to you and yours.
Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg
Mariner Books
Formula One’s fan base exploded following the release of the Netflix docuseries, “Drive to Survive”. According to some estimates, some 50% of fans are new to the fastest sport on four wheels. Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg chart the sport’s creation, rise, and rapid growth in their excellent book “The Formula.” With a thrilling pace worthy of this sport, Robinson and Clegg capture the personalities, team conflicts, and business of Formula One in fascinating detail, offering something for new and old fans alike.
On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything
Nate Silver
Penguin Random House
Pollster and forecaster Nate Silver also happens to be a rather avid gambler. In “On the Edge” Silver explores the nature of risk–taking, surveying everything from high–stakes poker and Las Vegas’ business model to Sam Bankman–Fried, effective altruism, and the existential debates over the future of humanity in the era of AI. Dividing the world into the “river” and the “village”—risk–takers versus relative conformists—Silver’s intellectual reach is sometimes just outside of his grasp, but it is nonetheless one of the most compelling reads of the year.
When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D–Day
Garrett M. Graff
Simon & Schuster
This year marked the 75th anniversary of Operation Overlord—the Normandy invasion. In “When the Sea Came Alive,” Garrett Graff pens a truly superlative oral history of the planning, the training, the execution, and the aftermath of this pivotal moment in World War II. Graff’s execution is masterful as he allows the soldiers, sailors, and aviators to tell their own stories, adding just enough context to clarify and illuminate. It is a truly powerful book, even more so as the surviving members of the Greatest Generation are quickly passing into history.
Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World
Parmy Olson
St. Martin’s Press
The battle for AI dominance between OpenAI and Google DeepMind could well shape the course of humanity. That sounds hyperbolic, but the rush to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI)—AI that is near or at human levels of cognitive function—is driven not by governments or states, but by private enterprises backed by considerable capital. Parmy Olson, a reporter for Bloomberg, follows the twists and turns of these two hypercompetitive companies and their complex CEOs, Sam Altman and Demis Hassabis, respectively, in “Supremacy.” While omitting the greater existential questions, Olson’s account forces readers to confront them nonetheless.
Downfall: Prigozhin, Putin, and the new fight for the future of Russia
Anna Arutunyan & Mark Galeotti
Ebury Publishing
The best biographies are not just stories about the life of the person profiled, but about the system and times in which they lived. “Downfall” by Anna Arutunyan and Mark Galeotti details the life of hot dog vendor turned warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin and in so doing explores the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of President Vladimir Putin. “Downfall” is as much a fascinating biography of a system as it is a biography of a deeply interesting man.
Dmitri Alperovitch
PublicAffairs
It is now accepted that the United States is in strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China. That’s the easy part. What Washington should do in response is the hard part. Countless books attempting to answer this question line the shelves, but few are as cogent and well–argued as Dmitri Alperovitch’s “World on the Brink.” Offering much–needed strategic empathy—seeing the world from China’s point of view—and strategic practicality, Alperovitch outlines a coherent plan to counter and deter Beijing’s designs on Taiwan and hegemonic ambitions in the Indo–Pacific. The rub, as always, lies in politics, which Alperovitch shrewdly avoids.
Peter Pomerantsev
PublicAffairs
Sefton Delmer, a British propagandist during World War II, turned the tables on the Nazi regime, undermining it by using and emulating its own tactics. Peter Pomerantsev’s “How to Win an Information War” is not only a thrilling biography, it is also a lens through which one can look at the West’s shortcomings in combating foreign mis– and dis–information, and propaganda. If governments were to take a page from Delmer’s book, they could well see the West better counter Russian, Chinese, and other propaganda efforts.
Yuan Yang
Viking
In “Private Revolutions”, former Financial Times deputy Beijing bureau chief, Yuan Yang profiles four Chinese women born during the country’s economic liberalization in the 1980s and 1990s as they sought to chart their own paths in pursuit of financial stability and prosperity, confronting cultural, gender, and political obstacles in the process. A deeply intimate and personal book, Yang opens a window into a changing country and a society struggling to change at the same time.
Madhumita Murgia
Picador
Whereas Parmy Olson’s “Supremacy” charts the high–stakes battle for AI dominance between Google DeepMind and OpenAI, Madhumita Murgia’s “Code Dependent” looks at the very human consequences and downsides of AI’s rapid proliferation. From deepfake pornography to AI–driven policing, and to the very human content moderators, Murgia exposes those most vulnerable to, and taken advantage of by, AI’s emergence. The first–to–market rush and pursuit of market dominance runs roughshod over considerations of the downsides of AI and how it leaves society’s most vulnerable at risk.
Lord David Richards and Julian Lindley–French
Hurst
Lord David Richards, the former Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom, and academic Julian Lindley–French pen a searing indictment of London’s defense and foreign policy in “The Retreat from Strategy.” The authors find that virtue signaling has replaced strategic pragmatism and the Treasury’s focus on the purse strings dictates just how much threat the country can afford, not the size of the threats facing London. Critics challenge the authors’ characterizations, but it is nonetheless a valuable contribution at a critical time—a new government in 10 Downing Street and the war in Ukraine now surpassing 1,000 days—and indicative of the type of dialogue needed if reform is to occur.
Hannah Ritchie
Little Brown Spark
Offering a bold, optimistic look at the state of the environment, “Not the End of the World” Hannah Ritchie of the University of Oxford uses data to show how progress is really happening. Things are not as bad as they may seem on key planetary issues like climate change, over–fishing, and soil degradation. A valuable corrective to the ever–present doomerism, Ritchie identifies areas where maximum progress for minimal investment is possible, if only politics were able to sort themselves out.
To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power
Sergei Radchenko
Cambridge University Press
“To Run the World,” Sergei Radchenko’s weighty history of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy since 1945, reaffirms the maxim that the more things change the more they stay the same. The Kremlin then, arguably as much as now, is a deeply insecure power, one that aims to be taken seriously (and have its interests taken seriously) and is resentful of slights—both real and imagined. “To Run the World” is deeply insightful about how Moscow has viewed the United States, China, and other countries, and the changing balances of power among and between these relationships.
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Our book reviewer’s 12 best reads of 2024
Photo by Clint Patterson on Unsplash
December 7, 2024
December brings with it the Christmas season and, just as importantly, the best–books–of–the–year lists. Here is Joshua Huminski’s!
D
ecember brings with it the Christmas season and, just as importantly, the best–books–of–the–year lists. This year was trying—the war in Ukraine entered its third year and looks to continue into the fourth; strategic competition with China is heating up; the race for AI market dominance could well shape humanity’s future, and more. The books I chose for my best reads of the year (in no particular order below) reflect these dynamics, but also offer a few respites and a touch of optimism. Happy holidays to you and yours.
Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg
Mariner Books
Formula One’s fan base exploded following the release of the Netflix docuseries, “Drive to Survive”. According to some estimates, some 50% of fans are new to the fastest sport on four wheels. Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg chart the sport’s creation, rise, and rapid growth in their excellent book “The Formula.” With a thrilling pace worthy of this sport, Robinson and Clegg capture the personalities, team conflicts, and business of Formula One in fascinating detail, offering something for new and old fans alike.
On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything
Nate Silver
Penguin Random House
Pollster and forecaster Nate Silver also happens to be a rather avid gambler. In “On the Edge” Silver explores the nature of risk–taking, surveying everything from high–stakes poker and Las Vegas’ business model to Sam Bankman–Fried, effective altruism, and the existential debates over the future of humanity in the era of AI. Dividing the world into the “river” and the “village”—risk–takers versus relative conformists—Silver’s intellectual reach is sometimes just outside of his grasp, but it is nonetheless one of the most compelling reads of the year.
When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D–Day
Garrett M. Graff
Simon & Schuster
This year marked the 75th anniversary of Operation Overlord—the Normandy invasion. In “When the Sea Came Alive,” Garrett Graff pens a truly superlative oral history of the planning, the training, the execution, and the aftermath of this pivotal moment in World War II. Graff’s execution is masterful as he allows the soldiers, sailors, and aviators to tell their own stories, adding just enough context to clarify and illuminate. It is a truly powerful book, even more so as the surviving members of the Greatest Generation are quickly passing into history.
Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World
Parmy Olson
St. Martin’s Press
The battle for AI dominance between OpenAI and Google DeepMind could well shape the course of humanity. That sounds hyperbolic, but the rush to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI)—AI that is near or at human levels of cognitive function—is driven not by governments or states, but by private enterprises backed by considerable capital. Parmy Olson, a reporter for Bloomberg, follows the twists and turns of these two hypercompetitive companies and their complex CEOs, Sam Altman and Demis Hassabis, respectively, in “Supremacy.” While omitting the greater existential questions, Olson’s account forces readers to confront them nonetheless.
Downfall: Prigozhin, Putin, and the new fight for the future of Russia
Anna Arutunyan & Mark Galeotti
Ebury Publishing
The best biographies are not just stories about the life of the person profiled, but about the system and times in which they lived. “Downfall” by Anna Arutunyan and Mark Galeotti details the life of hot dog vendor turned warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin and in so doing explores the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of President Vladimir Putin. “Downfall” is as much a fascinating biography of a system as it is a biography of a deeply interesting man.
Dmitri Alperovitch
PublicAffairs
It is now accepted that the United States is in strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China. That’s the easy part. What Washington should do in response is the hard part. Countless books attempting to answer this question line the shelves, but few are as cogent and well–argued as Dmitri Alperovitch’s “World on the Brink.” Offering much–needed strategic empathy—seeing the world from China’s point of view—and strategic practicality, Alperovitch outlines a coherent plan to counter and deter Beijing’s designs on Taiwan and hegemonic ambitions in the Indo–Pacific. The rub, as always, lies in politics, which Alperovitch shrewdly avoids.
Peter Pomerantsev
PublicAffairs
Sefton Delmer, a British propagandist during World War II, turned the tables on the Nazi regime, undermining it by using and emulating its own tactics. Peter Pomerantsev’s “How to Win an Information War” is not only a thrilling biography, it is also a lens through which one can look at the West’s shortcomings in combating foreign mis– and dis–information, and propaganda. If governments were to take a page from Delmer’s book, they could well see the West better counter Russian, Chinese, and other propaganda efforts.
Yuan Yang
Viking
In “Private Revolutions”, former Financial Times deputy Beijing bureau chief, Yuan Yang profiles four Chinese women born during the country’s economic liberalization in the 1980s and 1990s as they sought to chart their own paths in pursuit of financial stability and prosperity, confronting cultural, gender, and political obstacles in the process. A deeply intimate and personal book, Yang opens a window into a changing country and a society struggling to change at the same time.
Madhumita Murgia
Picador
Whereas Parmy Olson’s “Supremacy” charts the high–stakes battle for AI dominance between Google DeepMind and OpenAI, Madhumita Murgia’s “Code Dependent” looks at the very human consequences and downsides of AI’s rapid proliferation. From deepfake pornography to AI–driven policing, and to the very human content moderators, Murgia exposes those most vulnerable to, and taken advantage of by, AI’s emergence. The first–to–market rush and pursuit of market dominance runs roughshod over considerations of the downsides of AI and how it leaves society’s most vulnerable at risk.
Lord David Richards and Julian Lindley–French
Hurst
Lord David Richards, the former Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom, and academic Julian Lindley–French pen a searing indictment of London’s defense and foreign policy in “The Retreat from Strategy.” The authors find that virtue signaling has replaced strategic pragmatism and the Treasury’s focus on the purse strings dictates just how much threat the country can afford, not the size of the threats facing London. Critics challenge the authors’ characterizations, but it is nonetheless a valuable contribution at a critical time—a new government in 10 Downing Street and the war in Ukraine now surpassing 1,000 days—and indicative of the type of dialogue needed if reform is to occur.
Hannah Ritchie
Little Brown Spark
Offering a bold, optimistic look at the state of the environment, “Not the End of the World” Hannah Ritchie of the University of Oxford uses data to show how progress is really happening. Things are not as bad as they may seem on key planetary issues like climate change, over–fishing, and soil degradation. A valuable corrective to the ever–present doomerism, Ritchie identifies areas where maximum progress for minimal investment is possible, if only politics were able to sort themselves out.
To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power
Sergei Radchenko
Cambridge University Press
“To Run the World,” Sergei Radchenko’s weighty history of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy since 1945, reaffirms the maxim that the more things change the more they stay the same. The Kremlin then, arguably as much as now, is a deeply insecure power, one that aims to be taken seriously (and have its interests taken seriously) and is resentful of slights—both real and imagined. “To Run the World” is deeply insightful about how Moscow has viewed the United States, China, and other countries, and the changing balances of power among and between these relationships.
