General non-fiction
We publish serious non-fiction social commentary and debate for a wide audience. These high quality books are written by academics, professionals and other experts in an accessible way bringing key issues of social, political and cultural significance to a wide readership. These books have an impact: advancing knowledge, raising awareness and encouraging social change.
This Separated Isle
Invisible Britain
This Separated Isle explores how concepts of ‘Britishness’ reveal an inclusive range of understandings about our national character. Featuring a diverse range of photographic portraits and narrative stories from across the UK, this landmark book examines the relationship between identity and nationhood, revealing the ties that bind us together.
The Education Debate
This extensively updated fourth edition by the key author in the field will maintain its place as the most important text on education policy and makes essential reading for all students and anyone interested in education policy more generally.
What Have Charities Ever Done for Us?
The Stories Behind the Headlines
What Have Charities Ever Done for Us? uses case studies and interviews to illustrate how charities support people and communities, foster heritage and culture and pioneer responses to crucial social, ethical and environmental questions.
The Mutant Project
Inside the Global Race to Genetically Modify Humans
An anthropologist visits the frontiers of genetics, medicine, and technology to ask: whose values are guiding gene-editing experiments, and what are the implications for humanity?
Radical Empathy
Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides
Renowned political scientist Terri Givens calls for ‘radical empathy’ in bridging racial divides to understand the origins of our biases, including internalized oppression. Deftly weaving together her own experiences with the political, she offers practical steps to call out racism and bring about radical social change.
School Scandals
Blowing the Whistle on the Corruption of Our Education System
Pat Thomson takes on England’s muddled education system and exposes fraudulent and unethical practices, including the skewing of the curriculum and manipulation of results. She argues for an urgent review of current practices, leading to a revitalised education system that has the public good at its heart.
Too Hot to Handle?
The Democratic Challenge of Climate Change
This book explores why climate is such a challenge for political systems, even when policy solutions exist. It argues that more democracy, not less, is needed to tackle the climate crisis, and suggests practical ways forward.
Enemies of the People?
How Judges Shape Society
When newspapers reported a court ruling on Brexit, senior judges were condemned as 'enemies of the people'. But they still ruled that an order by the Queen on the advice of her prime minister was just ‘a blank piece of paper’. Joshua Rozenberg asks how judges can maintain public confidence while making hard choices.
The Shame Game
Overturning the Toxic Poverty Narrative
Drawing on a two-year multi-platform initiative, this book by award-winning journalist and author Mary O’Hara, asks how we can overturn the portrayal of poverty once and for all. Crucially, she turns to the real experts to try to find answers – the people who live it.
The Happiness Problem
Expecting Better in an Uncertain World
The Happiness Problem shows that the illusion of control over our lives is too simplistic and can even be harmful. Sam Wren-Lewis offers an alternative: he proposes that we can connect with, and gain a deeper understanding of, the personal and social challenges that define our time.
Rethinking Britain
Policy Ideas for the Many
Rethinking Britain presents a range of ideas from some of the country’s most influential thinkers, offering solutions which, if implemented, would lead to a fairer society. This book is an essential aid for citizens who are interested in critiquing inequalities while looking to build a better future.
Generation Share
The Change-Makers Building the Sharing Economy
Generation Share takes readers on a journey around the globe to meet the people who are changing and saving lives by building a Sharing Economy. Through stunning photography, social commentary and interviews, Generation Share showcases extraordinary stories demonstrating the power of sharing.