Nonfiction Advisory
Energy and Civilization
Vaclav Smil surveys how energy flows have shaped food, work, technology, economies, and the environmental pressures of civilization.
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Nonfiction
Essays, criticism, history, biography, and other nonfiction that rewards sustained reading.
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27 selectionsNonfiction Advisory
Debt: The First 5,000 Years
David Graeber uses anthropology and history to challenge the story that money and markets naturally emerged from barter.
Nonfiction Advisory
Collapse
Jared Diamond compares historical and contemporary cases to ask how environmental limits, institutions, trade, and values shape collective survival.