Non-Fiction Highlights: History of Ideas

There’s nothing like the experience of reading a fascinating non-fiction book: having your curiosity teased, assumptions challenged, knowledge nourished. The only thing better is reading a few of them. Entirely new things are created in the bright and lively disco-temple of your head; knowledge and ideas meet and discreetly procreate, and something vital and original comes into being.

Mr B’s Non-Fiction Highlights are curated lists of books designed to speak to one another. They are at once a collection of individual voices-each title comes as a recommended read for its subject-and a great choir: in combination, you get a fuller, more grounded and satisfyingly interconnected reading experience.

This list is an intellectual warm bath complete with bubbles, candles and a glass of red wine. It includes Sam’s favourite book of 2023-‘Magnificent Rebels’ by Andrea Wulf-and other titles exploring the often surprising world history of how we think and feel.