Book cover of The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World

Book description

CUNDILL PRIZE 2018 WINNER SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2018

'Enlightening, compassionate, superb' John le Carre

A visionary life and times of Joseph Conrad, and of our global world, from one of the best historians writing today.

Migration, terrorism, the tensions between global capitalism and…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Dawn Watch as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I am not the only one struck by Conrad’s depiction of imperial encounter at the dawn of the 20th century. This book contextualizes the real people and places that Conrad adapted for his fiction writing. Jasanoff, a historian, traveled the globe on a container ship for months to try to understand this fascination with maritime travel, far-flung places, and how imperialism and modern capitalism shaped our world.

It is an unusual book (a great thing!) and a meditation on the origins of the contemporary world.

If you love The Dawn Watch...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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