Night Watch
By Terry Pratchett
(Penguin Classics, £12.99)
I always found the colourful cartoony covers of Pratchett’s books off-putting. They captured something of his novels that I did not like: they were like a compendium of often dodgy jokes that ultimately undermined his world building. This reissue has a suitably dark cover. This is a Pratchett novel I do love. The jokes are still there but backgrounded. Here is a dark, detailed mirror to our own society – a dissection of police, military and politics. It is hugely entertaining and involves the great, complex character of Vimes – a police officer and a hero but no goody-goody. He has gone back in time to when his younger self exists. There’s time travel, fantasy and excellent social commentary. Recommended. Kevin Gildea
These Isles: A People’s History of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales
By Brian Groom
(HarperCollins, £20)
The volatile history of the islands of Britain and Ireland is scrutinised by the English journalist Brian Groom, who has written widely on regional affairs. He discusses the changing fortunes, considering how the adjacent islands are in flux again as they have been for millenniums. There are forays into cultural life including music, language and literature, as well as religion and sport.
The term “British Isles” displeases many in Ireland and alternative suggestions are the Anglo Celtic Islands, the Atlantic Archipelago or the British-Irish Isles. In 2001 the rugby team officially adopted the entwined term: British & Irish Lions. The author concludes that the picture remains unstable and if the union is to continue to survive it will need patience, flexibility, care and understanding. Paul Clements
The Doom Loop: Why the World Economic Order Is Spiraling into Disorder
By Eswar S Prasad
(Hurst Publishers, £22)
Eswar S Prasad’s new book is dedicated to examining a nebulous concept he calls the “doom loop”, constituted by hostility to globalisation, unequal wealth distribution and consequent demagoguery. He indulges in many platitudes about populism without fully grappling with the possibility it may stem from misdirected anger about worsening living standards resulting from the offshoring and economic financialisation entailed by the free markets and globalisation he defends.
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Ludicrously, he opines that Guyana opening its “first Starbucks” evinces the benefits of globalisation, and reflections on power politics are supported with questionable references to Game of Thrones. Ultimately, the book comes across as well-intentioned but insistence that “no realistic substitute exists for free markets” and economic just-so stories do not inspire confidence as solutions. Seoirse Swanton
