Here are 20 books that The Corporation in the 21st Century fans have personally recommended if you like The Corporation in the 21st Century. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Anna Karenina

Tina Zee Author Of Wild Brigantia

From Tina's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Tina's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Tina Zee Why Tina loves this book

The book is both a profound window into a world where protocols must be adhered, and scandals must be avoided at all costs. The intimate love between Anna and her lover lead to isolation and despair. It gips the heart with emotional turmoil at a time of political changes occuring in Russia at the time.

By Leo Tolstoy ,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked Anna Karenina as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In 1872 the mistress of a neighbouring landowner threw herself under a train at a station near Tolstoy's home. This gave Tolstoy the starting point he needed for composing what many believe to be the greatest novel ever written.

In writing Anna Karenina he moved away from the vast historical sweep of War and Peace to tell, with extraordinary understanding, the story of an aristocratic woman who brings ruin on herself. Anna's tragedy is interwoven with not only the courtship and marriage of Kitty and Levin but also the lives of many other characters. Rich in incident, powerful in characterization,…


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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of The Internet of Animals

Geoff Mulgan Author Of Another World Is Possible

From Geoff's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Geoff's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Geoff Mulgan Why Geoff loves this book

This is a book about an extraordinary project to mobilise thousands of birds and animals to track the changing state of the world, tapping into their senses. Its one of many examples of collective intelligence at large scale, and of an emerging planetary consciousness that makes full use of science and technology. It's a hopeful book - a very healthy antidote to pettiness, nationalism and small thinking, and also a good reminder that we share this planet with billions of other creatures.

By Martin Wikelski ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Internet of Animals as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?


An illuminating account of animal migration and the stunning new science that reveals their infinite, untapped knowledge.

"A loving ode to science itself, told with wit and wonder."-Thor Hanson, author of Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid

What do animals know that we don't? How do elephants detect tsunamis before they happen? How do birds predict hurricanes? In The Internet of Animals, renowned scientist Martin Wikelski convincingly argues that animals possess a unique "sixth sense" that humans are only beginning to grasp ...

All we need to do is give animals a voice and our perception of the world could change…


Book cover of Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making Beyond the Numbers

Jonquil Lowe Author Of Be Your Own Financial Adviser

From my list on insights for managing your money wisely.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an economist who started out in stockbroking. But that felt like an exploitative industry and, looking for a more positive role, I moved to the consumer organisation Which? There, I cut my teeth helping people make the most of their money and then started my own freelance business. Along the way, I’ve worked with many clients (including financial regulators and the Open University where I now also teach), taken some of the exams financial advisers do and written 30 or so books on personal finance. The constant in my work is trying to empower individuals in the face of markets and systems that are often skewed against them.

Jonquil's book list on insights for managing your money wisely

Jonquil Lowe Why Jonquil loves this book

US economist Frank Knight is credited with distinguishing uncertainty from risk back in 1921. Yet the two are often conflated.

Kay (an eminent economist) and King (a former Governor of the Bank of England) argue powerfully that the distinction does matter. They range widely across macroeconomics, politics, and consumer choices to show why reducing the future to a set of numbers (probabilities) creates a false – and often disastrous – illusion of power over future outcomes.

They argue that instead we should aim to make decisions that stand a reasonable chance of being robust against unknowable, as well as forecastable, paths that the future might take. That’s very much the ethos of my own books: building in resilience is a key part of successful personal financial planning.

By John Kay , Mervyn King ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Radical Uncertainty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Some uncertainties are resolvable. The insurance industry's actuarial tables and the gambler's roulette wheel both yield to the tools of probability theory. Most situations in life, however, involve a deeper kind of uncertainty, a radical uncertainty for which historical data provide no useful guidance to future outcomes. Radical uncertainty concerns events whose determinants are insufficiently understood for probabilities to be known or forecasting possible. Before President Barack Obama made the fateful decision to send in the Navy Seals, his advisers offered him wildly divergent estimates of the odds that Osama bin Laden would be in the Abbottabad compound. In 2000,…


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Book cover of Retrieving the Future

Retrieving the Future by Randy C. Dockens,

Stealing technology from parallel Earths was supposed to make Declan rich. Instead, it might destroy everything.

Declan is a self-proclaimed interdimensional interloper, travelling to parallel Earths to retrieve futuristic cutting-edge technology for his employer. It's profitable work, and he doesn't ask questions. But when he befriends an amazing humanoid robot,…

Book cover of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Laurence Minsky Author Of Audio Branding

From my list on turning a marketing novice into a branding expert.

Why am I passionate about this?

What other topic brings together human behavior, culture, business, the media, and more? And what other career allows you to use that understanding to produce compelling, entertaining, and persuasive communications across broadcast, streaming, social, outdoor, in-store, new product development, and other channels? That’s why I’m passionate about it. And that’s the passion I want to instill in my students, readers, and clients. So, who am I? I’m a professor and marketing consultant (copywritnig, creative direction, and marketing strategy) with large and small clients, and nearly 10 books on the topic. Read these books and I think you’ll become passionate about this topic too!

Laurence's book list on turning a marketing novice into a branding expert

Laurence Minsky Why Laurence loves this book

By now, you might have noticed a theme: if I don’t enjoy reading a book, I don’t trudge through it for the deep insights or how-to information. The storytelling needs to be as strong as the concepts are useful.

Just like The Copy Workshop Workbook, I read an earlier edition of this book when I was just starting out – and it formed the basis for some of my thinking around how to influence – i.e., persuade – consumers and the role psychology and behavioral economics play in crafting effective marketing and brand development programs.

I also recommend this book if you are a consumer, too (who isn’t), because it will help keep you from falling into many of the traps that Cialdini identified.

By Robert B. Cialdini ,

Why should I read it?

27 authors picked Influence as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The foundational and wildly popular go-to resource for influence and persuasion-a renowned international bestseller, with over 5 million copies sold-now revised adding: new research, new insights, new examples, and online applications.

In the new edition of this highly acclaimed bestseller, Robert Cialdini-New York Times bestselling author of Pre-Suasion and the seminal expert in the fields of influence and persuasion-explains the psychology of why people say yes and how to apply these insights ethically in business and everyday settings. Using memorable stories and relatable examples, Cialdini makes this crucially important subject surprisingly easy. With Cialdini as a guide, you don't have…


Book cover of Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters

Étienne Garbugli Author Of Solving Product: Reveal Gaps, Ignite Growth, and Accelerate Any Tech Product with Customer Research

From Étienne's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Startup expert Entrepreneur Customer reserach expert

Étienne's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Étienne Garbugli Why Étienne loves this book

It's also an excellent read on business strategy, particularly valuable for understanding what strategy isn't.

By Richard Rumelt ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Good Strategy Bad Strategy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Richard Rumelt's Good Strategy/Bad Strategy was published in 2011, it immediately struck a chord, calling out as bad strategy the mish-mash of pop culture, motivational slogans and business buzz speak so often and misleadingly masquerading as the real thing.

Since then, his original and pragmatic ideas have won fans around the world and continue to help readers to recognise and avoid the elements of bad strategy and adopt good, action-oriented strategies that honestly acknowledge the challenges being faced and offer straightforward approaches to overcoming them. Strategy should not be equated with ambition, leadership, vision or planning; rather, it is…


Book cover of Thinking, Fast and Slow

Eldon Taylor Author Of Mind Training

From my list on using your mind power for health and success.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I often wondered why people behave as they do, think and believe in certain ways, and/or rationalize away their behavior, ranging from the criminal to the bizarre. I have researched and studied the mind for nearly fifty years now. I have written or co-authored more than twenty books on the subject.

My new book, Mind Training, co-authored with my wife and student of over thirty years, is the culmination of everything we’ve learned. In reality, it's a story that crosses over many disciplines, cites over 200 studies, offers multiple tools for empowerment in every chapter, and does so in the personable and friendly manner that my co-author is so very good at doing.

Eldon's book list on using your mind power for health and success

Eldon Taylor Why Eldon loves this book

Daniel Kahneman’s book is a must read for all who desire to understand their mind/brains and thereby maximize the use of the mind’s power over our lives.

In clear language, Daniel Kahneman illustrated the heuristic shortcuts that often limit our understanding and predispose our actions. We all hold onto outdated psychological mechanisms that create self-imposed limitations, and in doing so, we can find ourselves living out self-limiting lives.

Kahneman does an excellent job at showing us how we think we understand what we really don’t. His transparent and careful treatment of his subject has the potential to change how we think, not just about thinking, but about how we live our lives.

By Daniel Kahneman ,

Why should I read it?

49 authors picked Thinking, Fast and Slow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The phenomenal international bestseller - 2 million copies sold - that will change the way you make decisions

'A lifetime's worth of wisdom' Steven D. Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics
'There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Thinking, Fast and Slow' Financial Times

Why is there more chance we'll believe something if it's in a bold type face? Why are judges more likely to deny parole before lunch? Why do we assume a good-looking person will be more competent? The answer lies in the two ways we make choices: fast,…


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Book cover of What Walks This Way: Discovering the Wildlife Around Us Through Their Tracks and Signs

What Walks This Way by Sharman Apt Russell,

Nature writer Sharman Apt Russell tells stories of her experiences tracking wildlife—mostly mammals, from mountain lions to pocket mice—near her home in New Mexico, with lessons that hold true across North America. She guides readers through the basics of identifying tracks and signs, revealing a landscape filled with the marks…

Book cover of The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It

Ming-Yeh Rawnsley Author Of Taiwan Cinema: International Reception and Social Change

From Ming-Yeh's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Ming-Yeh's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Ming-Yeh Rawnsley Why Ming-Yeh loves this book

Professor Robert Putnam's earlier book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), is brilliant. He argued that the ways Americans increasingly distanced themselves from community involvement over the past few decades - including decreased voter turnout, attendance at public meetings, service on committees, and work with political parties - has undermined the active civic engagement which a strong democracy requires from its citizens. I find his thesis convincing and relevant to so many democratic societies today.

Therefore, when I found out recently that Putnam published another book (with Shaylyn Romney Garrett) in 2020, The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again, I bought it immediately and learned a great deal. In this age of hyper polarisation, confrontation, and exploitation, citizens have become more and more disengaged from not only political institutions but also each other. This sense of isolation…

By Robert D. Putnam ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Upswing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'The most important book in social science for many years' Paul Collier, TLS Books of the Year

The Upswing is Robert D. Putnam's brilliant analysis of economic, social, cultural and political trends from the Gilded Age to the present, showing how America went from an individualistic 'I' society to a more communitarian 'We' society and then back again, and how we can all learn from that experience.

In the late nineteenth century, America was highly individualistic, starkly unequal, fiercely polarised and deeply fragmented, just as it is today. However, as the twentieth century dawned, America became - slowly, unevenly, but…


Book cover of The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous

Jurgen Brauer

From Jurgen's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Economist Conflict scholar Nature lover World traveler Skeptic

Jurgen's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Jurgen Brauer Why Jurgen loves this book

I am an academic economist (retired) whose career always has had a strong interdisciplinary orientation. Among other fields, I have long been interested in psychology, especially social psychology, but also been skeptical of the tendency among its practitioners to use convenience samples of handy crowds of U.S. (or otherwise "western") undergraduate students to draw grand conclusions about human behavior. Prof. Henrich, a cultural anthropologist (and aerospace engineer!), shares this skepticism. In particular, he presents in this book theory and evidence of how WEIRD people in the Western world are relative to the majority of peoples elsewhere. (WEIRD = people in western, educated, industrialized, rich, developed countries.) This matches my own experiences across the world, and so I was curious to read this book. Culture, Prof. Henrich writes, influences brain development and results in persistent ways of seeing the world, and vice versa. Culture and psychological form and reform each other…

By Joseph Henrich ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The WEIRDest People in the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'A landmark in social thought. Henrich may go down as the most influential social scientist of the first half of the twenty-first century' MATTHEW SYED

Do you identify yourself by your profession or achievements, rather than your family network? Do you cultivate your unique attributes and goals? If so, perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic.

Unlike most who have ever lived, WEIRD people are highly individualistic, nonconformist, analytical and control-oriented. How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically peculiar? What part did these differences play in our history, and what do…


Book cover of The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?

Ron Elsdon Author Of Business Behaving Well: Social Responsibility, from Learning to Doing

From my list on purpose leadership organizations and community.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about integrating individual, organizational, and community needs to create a better world for the benefit of us all. I am an author and founder of organizations in the career and workforce development fields. My four books (Affiliation in the Workplace, Building Workforce Strength, Business Behaving Well, and How to Build a Nontraditional Career Path) and much of my career explored bringing work to life for those close to us, for ourselves, for our organizations, and for our communities. My social activism has been expressed through community volunteer work and promoting a range of social causes. I hope you enjoy the books I have chosen for you!

Ron's book list on purpose leadership organizations and community

Ron Elsdon Why Ron loves this book

Sometimes, a book brings such a perceptive view that it elicits in me a response of gratitude and respect for the author. It surfaces ideas I long suspected were there but were just beyond grasp.

This is such a book. It shines a bright light on false meritocracy and what that means. I found this book profoundly moving and reaffirming about the important principles inherent in a just society. 

By Michael J. Sandel ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Tyranny of Merit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A TLS, GUARDIAN AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020

The new bestseller from the acclaimed author of Justice and one of the world's most popular philosophers

"Astute, insightful, and empathetic...A crucial book for this moment" Tara Westover, author of Educated

These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favour of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the promise that "you can make it if you try". And the consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has…


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Book cover of The Bridge: Connecting The Powers of Linear and Circular Thinking

The Bridge by Kim Hudson,

The Bridge provides a compassionate and well researched window into the worlds of linear and circular thinking. A core pattern to the inner workings of these two thinking styles is revealed, and most importantly, insight into how to cross the distance between them. Some fascinating features emerged such as, circular…

Book cover of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire

Sarah Kaplan Author Of The 360° Corporation: From Stakeholder Trade-Offs to Transformation

From my list on stakeholder capitalism.

Why am I passionate about this?

Sarah Kaplan is Distinguished Professor and Director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She is the author of the bestseller Creative Destruction: Why Companies That Are Built to Last Underperform the Market—And How to Successfully Transform Them and The 360º Corporation: From Stakeholder Trade-offs to Transformation, both address the challenges of innovation and organizational change in society. She frequently speaks and appears in the media on topics related to achieving a more inclusive economy and corporate governance reform. Formerly a professor at the Wharton School and a consultant at McKinsey & Company, she earned her PhD at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Sarah's book list on stakeholder capitalism

Sarah Kaplan Why Sarah loves this book

If we want to reimagine capitalism as a system that does not destroy the planet and destabilize society, this must be enabled by corporations changing the way that they operate. Henderson’s Reimagining Capitalism gives us some principles for thinking about how to do this. A long-time innovation scholar, Henderson draws on her knowledge about how to succeed at organizational change to propose a more purpose-driven model of corporate action. Using numerous case studies of companies that have (partially) succeeded and those that have failed, she animates a number of principles for change. To start, such a model will require new metrics for social and environmental impact. This would involve more collaborative engagement amongst stakeholders to grow the economic pie and amongst companies to self-regulate in a more sustainable manner.

Particularly refreshing, at the end of the book, Henderson connects the macro conversation about economic and corporate change with a discussion…

By Rebecca Henderson ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A renowned Harvard professor debunks prevailing orthodoxy with a new intellectual foundation and a practical pathway forward for a system that has lost its moral and ethical foundation.
Free market capitalism is one of humanity's greatest inventions and the greatest source of prosperity the world has ever seen. But this success has been costly. Capitalism is on the verge of destroying the planet and destabilizing society as wealth rushes to the top. The time for action is running short.

Rebecca Henderson's rigorous research in economics, psychology, and organizational behavior, as well as her many years of work with companies around…


Book cover of Anna Karenina
Book cover of The Internet of Animals
Book cover of Radical Uncertainty: Decision-Making Beyond the Numbers

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