Title: The Gods that Failed

Author: Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson

Publisher: Bodley Head

Price: £12.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Economics

Category: Economics & Sociology

In Britain and the United States a very strange sect has seized power. They believe that we can all reach financial paradise, if only certain sacrifices are made. There must be deregulation, there must be privatization, and markets must be left unmolested, the better to perform their magic. Democratic governments, unions and professionals will all have to accept that there is no alternative. Meanwhile job security, affordable houses and decent public services must wither away in the white heat of financial engineering. A new class has been presiding over this wonderland – the New Olympians. Since the late forties they have been planning their next move in mountaintop meetings that would make Ian Fleming blanch. Now private jets take them where they want to go as they tell the world the good news. But, in the wake of the Northern Rock collapse and the credit crunch, good news is in short supply. In this hilarious and shocking expose Elliott and Atkinson reveal the dogma that has brought us to the brink of disaster, and show us how to escape from the coils of faith-based thinking. The New Olympians have already done huge damage on both sides of the Atlantic. Miners, farmers and industrial workers have so far suffered most. But as market forces bear down on health, education and the professions, the middle classes are starting to feel the squeeze. Markets are not magic. Debt is not freedom. The Gods have failed. It is time to live without them.

Title: We-Think

Author: Charles Leadbeater

Publisher: Profile

Price: £12.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Business Leaders

Category: Economics

We-think is about what the rise of these phenomena (not all to do with the internet) means for the way we organise ourselves – not just in digital businesses but in schools and hospitals, cities and mainstream corporations. For the point of the industrial era economy was mass production for mass consumption, the formula created by Henry Ford; but these new forms of mass, creative collaboration announce the arrival of a new kind of society, in which people want to be players, not spectators. This is a huge cultural shift, for in this new economy people want not services and goods, delivered to them, but tools so they can take part. In We-think Charles Leadbeater analyses not only these changes, but how they will affect us and how we can make the most of them. Just as, in the 1980s, his In Search of Work predicted the rise of more flexible employment, here he outlines a crucial shift that is already affecting all of us.

Title: Empires of Oil

Author: Duncan Clarke

Publisher: Profile

Price: £20.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Business Leaders

Category: Economics

We might think that the world’s oil empires are invincible megaliths, dominated by American interests, but Duncan Clarke reveals the ways in which these empires will face huge challenges in the twenty-first century. Based on razor-sharp analysis of contemporary geopolitics and a deep knowledge of global history, he shows exactly why these empires are declining. He explains where the new empires of oil will be around the world; which of the hidden threats and unknown enemies are and will be the most serious; and where companies have gone wrong and can improve their global strategies. Empires of Oil reveals how the world will change because of global battles over the commodity that underpins our lives.

Title: Runaway World

Author: Anthony Giddens

Publisher: Profile

Price: £6.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Business Leaders

Category: Economics

'There are good reasons to believe that we are living through a major period of historical transition. The changes affecting us aren't confined to any one area of the globe but stretch almost everywhere.' From the Introduction This book, completely updated with a new chapter for this new edition, is about global change and its impact on every aspect of our lives - and people's lives in very different parts of the world. The changes are broadly positive, liberating women, spreading democracy and creating new wealth.

Title: Family Businesses: The Essentials

Author: Peter Leach

Publisher: Profile

Price: £15.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Business Leaders

Category: Economics

Family firms are to be found in every sector of commercial activity, and their special strengths mean that they flourish best where their advantages can be fully exploited. Family Businesses: The Essentials is a comprehensive guide to every aspect of managing a family-owned firm, from day-to-day issues to long-term planning for future generations. This new and completely revised version of the author’s previous Guide to the Family Business (Kogan Page; last edition 1999) provides an accessible introduction to newcomers, and also offers knowledgeable business people fresh insight and solutions to the special problems they face. All family businesses are different, but it is critical for each to define its shared family values, vision and purpose. Family Businesses: The Essentials shows how to achieve this, and how to allow each generation to reinterpret and revitalise that vision.

Title: The 33 Strategies of War

Author: Robert Greene

Publisher: Profile

Price: £14.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Business Leaders

Category: Economics

From bestselling author Robert Greene comes a brilliant distillation of the strategies of war that can help us gain mastery in the modern world. Spanning world civilisations, and synthesising dozens of political, philosophical, and religious texts, "The 33 Strategies of War" is a comprehensive guide to the subtle social game of everyday life. Based on profound, timeless lessons, it is abundantly illustrated with examples of the genius and folly of everyone from Napoleon to Margaret Thatcher and Hannibal to Ulysses S. Grant, as well as diplomats, captains of industry and Samurai swordsmen.

Educational Websites

Standards Site, BBC History, PBS Online, Open Directory Project, Virtual Library,
Education Forum, History GCSE, Design & Technology, Learn History, Music Teacher Resource,
Freepedia, Teach It, Science Active, Geography IST, Brighton Photographers, Sussex Photo History,
Compton History, Universal Teacher, English Teaching, English Online, History Learning Site,
History on the Net, Black History, Greenfield History, School History, HistoryWorld, I Love History,
E-HELP, Ed Podesta Blog, Macgregorish History, Historiasiglo20, Sintermeerten, ICT4LT

News and Search

Guardian Unlimited, Times Online, Daily Telegraph, The Independent, New York Times,
Washington Post, BBC, CNN, Yahoo News, New Scientist, Google News, Channel 4, ZDNet,
Google, Excite, Yahoo, MSN, Lycos, AOL Search, Hotbot, Metacrawler, Netscape, Ask, Search,
Go, Looksmart, Dogpile, Raging Search, All the Web, Kartoo, Search Engine Watch, About