Best books of 2024: from our own stable

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Made in Manchester: A People’s History of the City That Shaped the Modern World by Brian Groom (HarperCollins)
A follow-up of sorts to Northerners, his history of the North of England, Groom, a former comment editor and political editor of the FT, zooms in on Manchester, revealing the city’s long heritage from Roman fort to industrial powerhouse and cultural centre.

The Martini: The Ultimate Guide to a Cocktail Icon by Alice Lascelles (Quadrille)
Lascelles, HTSI’s drinks columnist, turns her attention to an iconic cocktail, which is deceptively simple, hotly contested and fiercely debated. The Martini features more than 60 recipes that chart the drink’s 150-year history.

Battle for the Museum: Cultural Institutions in Crisis by Rachel Spence (Hurst)
Whether it’s the British Museum, the Louvre or Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, cultural institutions now offer a canvas for debate and protest around everything from fossil fuel sponsorship to the restitution of contested objects. Spence, an FT arts writer, considers how galleries and museums have become cultural flashpoints.

I Will Crash by Rebecca Watson (Faber)
Watson, the FT’s assistant arts and books editor, was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize in 2021 for her debut novel, little scratch. Her second novel is the devastating tale of estranged siblings that explores grief, forgiveness and love in her unique, compelling style.

The Future-Proof Career: Strategies for Thriving at Every Stage by Isabel Berwick (Pavilion Books)
In this guide to navigating a career in a post-pandemic world, Berwick looks at the big trends shaping the ever-evolving workplace.

Final Verdict: A Holocaust Trial in the Twenty-first Century by Tobias Buck (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Buck, the FT’s managing editor, examines Germany’s reckoning with its past through the lens of his own family’s experience and the trial of former Nazi guard Bruno Dey.

Steak by Tim Hayward (Quadrille Publishing)
This encyclopedia on steak from the FT’s restaurant writer covers everything from the fungibility of beef and problems with USDA regulations to recipes and home-cooking experiments.

Good Chaps: How Corrupt Politicians Broke Our Law and Institutions — And What We Can Do About It by Simon Kuper (Profile)
Following on from Chums, the FT columnist exposes the corruption permeating UK politics and the death of the so-called “good chap”.

Impossible City: Paris in the Twenty-first Century by Simon Kuper (Profile)
With the perspective of a foreigner, and two decades as a Paris resident behind him, Kuper chronicles the paradoxical complexities of Parisian life in his memoir.

Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia (Picador/Henry Holt)
The FT’s AI editor investigates the technology’s effects on individuals and wider society through the voices of ordinary people rather than those from Silicon Valley. Shortlisted for the inaugural Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

Hype Machine: How Greed, Fraud and Free Money Crashed Crypto by Joshua Oliver (Bonnier)
Oliver, the FT property correspondent and recipient of Young Journalist of the Year at the Harold Wincott awards, traces the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of notorious crypto exchange FTX.

What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except the British) by Michael Peel (Monoray)
A scrutiny of the fundamental truths about Britain and Britishness from a foreign perspective by former FT foreign correspondent and current science editor.

Democracy: Eleven Writers and Leaders on What It Is — and Why It Matters compiled by Juliet Riddell (Profile)
A collaboration between Profile Books and the FT, Democracy features reflections from 11 women, including Margaret Atwood, Erica Benner and Lea Ypi, on the threats facing democracy in 2024, the “year of elections”.

What Went Wrong with Capitalism by Ruchir Sharma (Allen Lane)
Sharma, an FT contributing editor, shows how government intervention has slowed economic growth and provides a solution in seven fixes.

Books of the Year 2024

All this week, FT writers and critics share their favourites. Some highlights are:

Monday: Business by Andrew Hill
Tuesday: Environment by Pilita Clark
Wednesday: Economics by Martin Wolf
Thursday: Fiction by Laura Battle
Friday: Politics by Gideon Rachman
Saturday: Critics’ choice

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