Book cover of Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World

Book description

*The International Bestseller*

'Superb, hugely enjoyable ... a spirited examination of the hubris and hypocrisy of the super-rich who claim they are helping the world' Aditya Chakrabortty, Guardian

What explains the spreading backlash against the global elite? In this revelatory investigation, Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Winners Take All as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Leave it to Anand to throw down and tell it like it is!

I found this book SO refreshing, given my work in philanthropy and fundraising, and how much people operating in this world can fall into making excuses for extremely bad (and ridiculous) behavior. 

I read this as part of a book club with several colleagues and friends from work (all of whom worked in or adjacent to philanthropy), and our discussions about each chapter ended up feeling like therapy sessions.

I super appreciated Anand’s singular ability to call things out for what they are, and I feel like…

After reading Winners Take All, we might be forgiven for being worried about the role philanthropy plays in society. Anand Giridharadas’s central argument is that donors – defined not as the average annual supporter of a charity, but as those with millions, and more, to give – do not so much change society for the better, but use their wealth to maintain the status quo. 

He says that instead of helping the poor, donations support policies, in the nonprofit arena, that uphold and even increase donors’ own wealth and status. In that regard, he reflects upon Oscar Wilde’s observation that…

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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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