The Economist 07Dec2019

The EconomistDecember 7th 2019 83

1

Books & arts

86 Books by our writers

Also in this section

Politics and current affairs

Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row
America. By Chris Arnade.Sentinel; 304
pages; $30 and £25
Over several years the author of this book,
a former Wall Street trader, conducted
thoughtful interviews in neglected com-
munities across America, and took mov-
ing photographs of his subjects. The result
is a quietly revelatory portrait of what he
calls the country’s “back row”.

An American Summer: Love and Death in
Chicago. By Alex Kotlowitz. Nan A. Talese;
304 pages; $27.95
Chicago has suffered 14,000 murders in
the past two decades; overwhelmingly the
victims are African-American or Hispanic.
This is an intimate and sympathetic de-
piction of several people involved in, and
affected by, deadly crime. The killings
seem senseless, but, says the author, the
city can do more to grasp their causes.

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade

of Changing the World. By Anand

Giridharadas.Knopf; 304 pages; $26.95.

Allen Lane; £12.99

A timely polemic against philanthro-

capitalism, which argues that supposedly

do-gooding companies merely offer stick-

ing-plaster solutions to social problems

that they have helped create. Such efforts,

the author says, do little to make up for a

winner-takes-all philosophy that is hold-

ing down wages and transferring the bur-

den of risk onto employees.

No Visible Bruises. By Rachel Louise Snyder.

Bloomsbury; 320 pages; $28

It is the dark matter of violent crime: un-

seen but everywhere. This investigation

into domestic violence in America blends

harrowing testimony with persuasive

recommendations on how to help victims

and perpetrators. A book that manages to

be both personal and panoramic, angry

and hopeful.

Assad or We Burn the Country. By Sam

Dagher. Little, Brown; 592 pages; $29 and £25

Although the horrors of Syria’s civil war

are well documented, this chronicle by a

Wall Street Journalcorrespondent still

offers new insights into a struggle that has

reshaped the Middle East. Many are based

on his rare access to Manaf Tlass, a one-

time confidant of Bashar al-Assad, who

charts the accidental president’s meta-

morphosis into a blood-soaked dictator.

The Light that Failed. By Stephen Holmes

and Ivan Krastev. Pegasus Books; 256 pages;

$26.95. Allen Lane; £20

When the Soviet Union collapsed and

communism fell, the countries of eastern

Europe set out to emulate Western democ-

racies. But, as the authors of this percep-

tive book eloquently relate, their attitude

to liberal democracy soured amid global-

isation and the financial crisis—forces

that also fed the rise of nationalism in the

West. Russia, meanwhile, replaced Soviet

rule with a revanchist autocracy.

Presidential Misconduct: From George

Washington to Today. Edited by James

Banner junior. New Press; 512 pages; $29.99

In 1974 the special counsel to the impeach-

ment inquiry commissioned a survey of

Our books of the year

Word up

The best books of 2019 were about the ira, Harper Lee’s lost work, rational
economics and an Ohio housewife