MCKINSEY TOP 5 RECOMMENDED READ'An underground hit' – Best Politics Books, Financial Times'Jon has one of the few big ideas that's easily applied' – Sam Conniff, Be More Pirate'A wonderful guide to how to be human in the 21st Century' – Ece Temelkuran, How to Lose a Country: the Seven Steps from Democracy to DictatorshipDescriptionCitizens opens up a new way of understanding ourselves and shows us what we must do to survive and thrive as individuals, organisations, and nations.Over the past decade, Jon Alexander's consultancy, the New Citizenship Project, has helped revitalise some of Britain's biggest organisations including the Co-op, the Guardian and the National Trust. Here, with the New York Times bestselling writer Ariane Conrad, he shows how history is about to enter age of the Citizen.Because when our institutions treat people as creative, empowered creatures rather than consumers, everything changes.Unleashing the power of everyone equips us to face the challenges of economic insecurity, climate crisis, public health threats, and polarisation. Citizens is an upbeat handbook, full of insights, clear examples to follow, and inspiring case studies, from the slums of Kenya to the backstreets of Birmingham – and a foreword by Brian Eno.It is the perfect pick-me-up for leaders, founders, elected officials – and citizens everywhere. Organise and seize the future!Reviews'Society is like an out of control house party – eating, drinking and consuming everything. Jon is the organiser of the campfire gathering behind the party. It's calm and welcoming and you won't want to leave. In Citizens, Jon and Ariane show how to leave the burning house of the Consumer Story and join the campfire that is the Citizen Story.' – Stephen Greene, CEO of RockCorps and founding Chair of National Citizen Service UK'The belief that every single one of us has both the potential and the desire to make the world better drives me every day, in everything I do. In Citizens, Jon shows how taking that belief as a starting point really could transform our world. This is a truly powerful book, in every sense of the word.' - Josh Babarinde, Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur'Every great transformation requires a new story. A story that reveals new possibilities and points toward an optimistic alternative to the current situation. Citizens presents just such a story.' – Tim Brown, Chair of IDEO and author of Change By Design'The shift from consumer to citizen is a truly big idea. If you're in a position of strategic influence, I strongly recommend you engage with this and consciously explore what it might mean for your organisation.' – Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE, Former Director General, National Trust, and Trustee, BBC'There is such a thing as an idea whose time has come. This is that idea.' – James Perry, Board Member, B Lab Global, and Founding Partner, Snowball Investment ManagementAbout the AuthorsJON ALEXANDER began his career with success in advertising, winning the prestigious Big Creative Idea of the Year before making a dramatic change.Driven by a deep need to understand the impact on society of 3,000 commercial messages a day, he gathered three Masters degrees, exploring consumerism and its alternatives from every angle.In 2014, he co-founded the New Citizenship Project to bring the resulting ideas into contact with reality. In Citizens, he is ready to share them with the world. ARIANE CONRAD has built a career turning big ideas into books that change the world. Known as the Book Doula, she has co-written several New York Times bestsellers.BRIAN ENO is an artist, philosopher and Citizen who has played a critical part in British culture since the early 1970s.

'Extremely compelling' – THE GUARDIAN 'It's a fascinating read... Buy the book! Buy the book!' – JO GOOD, BBC RADIO LONDON 'Searing... funny, eloquent and honest' – PSYCHOLOGIES 'Remarkable... I hope this book finds a wide readership' – WASHINGTON POST 'A beautifully-rendered memoir' – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'Often as chilling as Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, but also full of so much inner and external turbulence that it reminded me at times of The Bourne Identity and Memento. Readers will root for Lily, even when she is attempting to run away from the realities and sometimes authorities chasing her.' – HUFFPOST UK 'A harrowingly honest memoir' – KIRKUS REVIEWS' Because We Are Bad is an emotional, challenging read. Lily takes us deep into the heart of the illness but she is also a deft writer, and even the darkest moments are peppered with wit and wry observations.' – JAMES LLOYD, OCD-UK As a child, Lily Bailey knew she was bad. By the age of 13, she had killed someone with a thought, spread untold disease, and spied upon her classmates. Only by performing a series of secret routines could she correct her wrongdoing. But it was never enough. She had a severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and it came with a bizarre twist. This true story lights up the workings of the mind like Mark Haddon or Matt Haig. Anyone who wants to know about OCD, and how to fight back, should read this book. It is ideal for anyone who liked books by fellow OCD sufferers Bryony Gordon (Mad Girl, Glorious Rock Bottom), Rose Cartwright (Pure), and David Adam (The Man Who Couldn't Stop: The Truth About OCD). EXTRACT Chapter 1: Chesbury Hospital From the outside, Chesbury Hospital in London looks like a castle that got lost and was plonked down in the wrong place. It is long and white, with battlements and arched windows from which princesses could call down, in the chapter before they are saved. But it's not entirely believable. Where the portcullis should be, there are giant glass doors. Walk through them, and you could be in a five-star hotel. The man at reception wears a suit and tie and asks if he can help, like he's going to book you a table. A glass cupboard showcases the gifts sold by reception: bath oils, rejuvenating face cream, and Green & Black's chocolate, just in case you arrive empty-handed to see a crazy relative and need an icebreaker. The walls, lampshades, window fittings, and radiators are all a similar, unnameable colour, somewhere between brown, yellow, and cream. A looping gold chandelier is suspended by a heavy chain; the fireplace has marble columns. The members of staff have busy, preoccupied faces—until they come close to you, when their mouths break into wide, fixed smiles. Compared with the Harley Street clinic, there is a superior choice of herbal teas. When the police arrived after the escape, Mum cried a lot; then she shouted. Now she has assumed a sense of British resolve. She queries: 'Wild Jasmine, Purple Rose, or Earl Grey?' A nurse checks through my bag, which has been lugged upstairs. She takes the razor (fair enough), tweezers (sort of fair enough), a bottle of Baileys lying forgotten in the handbag (definitely fair enough), and headphones (definitely not fair enough). There would never be a hanging: far too much mess. The observation room is next to the nurses' station; they keep you there until you are no longer a risk to yourself. It is 10th January, 2013, and I am 19. ABOUT THE WRITER Lily Bailey is a model, writer, and mental health campaigner. As a child and teenager, Lily suffered from severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She kept her illness private, until the widespread misunderstanding of the disorder spurred her into action.

- First major biography of Ukraine's leader written for a Western audience - Topical, up-to-date covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine - 'Start here' book for those interested in the Ukraine war and inspirational leaders

A vital read for anyone who cares about the future of British wildlife. With a foreword by the BBC TV presenter Chris Packham. 'A thriller, whodunnit and impassioned polemic.' – PATRICK BARKHAM, THE GUARDIAN Dominic Dyer explores the science and electioneering behind Britain's most controversial wildlife policy: the badger cull. He exposes the catastrophic handling of bovine TB by the British government, the political manoeuvring that engineered the badger cull in 2010, and the ongoing close relationship in perpetuating the cull between the National Farmers Union and the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). He shines an unflattering spotlight on Cabinet ministers, the veterinary profession, environmental NGOs and the BBC. Reviews 'I enjoyed reading this book and I strongly recommend it to you. 'This is a powerful and stimulating read and it's bang up to date with the important issue it discusses. It is written by a passionate insider with years of experience. The narrative is pacey and exciting. This book arrived with me on Thursday afternoon and I had read it completely by early yesterday [Saturday] morning.' – MARK AVERY, WRITER, BLOGGER AND ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGNER 'A vital must-read for anyone concerned about the badger's enduring place in the British countryside. 'A thriller, whodunnit and impassioned polemic, this is the inside story of the badger cull.' – PATRICK BARKHAM, THE GUARDIAN 'It should be read by all those battling against government policies that put money ahead of science and the environment. 'The book's conclusion is that the culls will be stopped, not by science or validity, but by cost. Yet Dyer remains optimistic: 'Despite all the incompetence, negligence and deceit, it's the caring compassionate British public who have made a stand for wildlife that gives me the most hope for the future.' 'His book pays tribute to the 'Badger Army', those many individuals from all walks of life who turned out to protest and importantly, once culling started, to protect the badgers out in the field. 'Those people will be patrolling the countryside, day and night, in every area where badger killing is taking place this autumn. While determined to protect their badgers, many also want to see the government help and support farmers to beat the TB in their cattle - but with proper cattle-based measures, not by senselessly killing wildlife.' – LESLEY DOCKSEY, THE ECOLOGIST, 'Why are our badgers 'Badgered to Death'?' Introduction by Chris Packham How viciously fickle we are. We arbitrarily pick and choose which species we like or dislike, normally and sadly based on purely anthropomorphic criteria, and then either laud or loathe them paying scant attention to the realities of their lives, or ours. And once cursed and demonised that tag is almost impossible to redress. Think rat, think fox… damned for historical crimes, firmly fixed as malevolent vermin, even in our supposedly enlightened age. But as this book displays we can also be quick to destroy the reputation of our animal heroes and blight their status with bigotry and ignorance. For many reasons we had come to love the badger, to cherish and admire it, to protect and celebrate it and of course many still do. But the reputation of this essential member of the UK's ecology has been targeted by a smear campaign which has been swallowed by the gullible and fuelled by those with vested interests. You see, in spite of all the science and all the truths that it outlines, the badger has become a scapegoat. Its been branded a 'bad guy' and is being persecuted as such. It's a terrible shame, but like I said, how fickle, how vicious, how predictably human. Buy the book and carry on reading Chris Packham's introduction

'Punchy, pithy and short.' – POLLY TOYNBEE, GUARDIAN COLUMNIST 'In an ideal world every citizen would read this essential book, and think hard.' – PROFESSOR AC GRAYLING, ACADEMIC The broadcaster and journalist Gavin Esler reveals the long-lasting impact of the most momentous change in Britain for decades. In seven succinct chapters, he charts the profound changes brought about by leaving the European Union on key areas of life in the United Kingdom: Food and diet Health and the NHS Jobs and industry Education Travel to Europe From the food markets of Kent to NHS operating theatres to the boardrooms of big employers, Brexit is packed with surprises. And Brexit Without the Bullshit is not about the Brexit you were told you were getting: it's about the one we're actually getting. From the author of How Britain Ends and Britain is Better Than This, this is the ideal accompaniment to books on Brexit such as the Fintan O'Toole's Brexit Chronicles and Michel Barner's Secret Brexit Diaries. Instead of concentrating on the Brexit referendum campaign, it uncovers the fundamental changes caused by Brexit - and what they mean for ordinary life. REVIEWS 'If you want a pithy, sober, clear-headed summary of what Brexit is actually likely to look like, @gavinesler 's new book is spot on. Such a welcome antidote to all the whipped up sentiment - calm, factual, rigorous.' – DR RACHEL CLARKE, NHS DOCTOR AND CAMPAIGNER 'Esler provides the evidence of what Brexit has already done to Britain and the harm that it s causing and will cause, in particular to the poorest in our society. A guide for all who want to understand what Brexit really means.' – JESSICA SIMOR QC 'A brilliant demolition of the lies and liars that created the Brexit mess. Should be required reading at his old stamping ground, the BBC.' – ALASTAIR CAMPBELL, WRITER AND BROADCASTER WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK - BY GAVIN ESLER In 2016 I did something I had never done before. I voted in the Brexit referendum without knowing what I was voting for or against. No one explained to me - or you - what Brexit would mean for our lives. Whether you voted Leave or Remain, we did not know the facts about Brexit, how it would affect our jobs, food, schools, universities, the NHS, our families, pets, travel arrangements, and even the supposed unity of the United Kingdom. In the years since the Brexit vote, the British government has continued to fail to explain the facts about Brexit, and so I decided to find out for myself. The result is my latest book, "Brexit Without The Bullshit." At first I thought that if Brexit were stripped of the bullshit — lies and deceit, scare stories and fantasies — there would be nothing left. But the facts about Brexit are so stark, there's plenty to discuss and think about. The key fact is this: Brexit is not an event. It is a process. Whether it happens or not, whatever version of leaving the EU we end up with, we will be forced to discuss Brexit for years to come. If we are to survive and perhaps thrive, we need to start with the facts. Gavin Esler CONTENTS Introduction Chapter 1. Brexit & Our Food Chapter 2. Brexit, Our Health & the NHS Chapter 3. Brexit, Our Money & Our Jobs Chapter 4. Brexit & Our Children's Education Chapter 5. Brexit & Travel Chapter 6. Brexit & Our Country Chapter 7. A No Deal Brexit The Boring Bits: Glossary and Endnotes

ONE FAMILY'S REVOLT AGAINST EVERYDAY POLLUTION When a beanbag sent thousands of polystyrene balls flying through her garden, Kate Hughes decided to make a break with the throwaway society. She and her husband transformed the lives of their ordinary family of four. They ditched plastic, shunned supermarkets, cooked all meals from scratch, bought only second-hand clothes, and made their own cleaning agents. Then they went deeper – greening every aspect of their home life, from their gas and electricity to their car, from their money to their IT. The Hugheses have achieved the 'zero waste' goal of sending nothing to landfill. Now they are going even further… Told with refreshing humility and humour, this eye-opening story shows that a well-lived life doesn't have to come wrapped in plastic. Packed with handy tips, it reveals much about what makes a fulfilling modern family – and how readers can empower themselves to preserve the climate, forests and seas. And, heart-warmingly, how that can lead to a more relaxing life. Extract Cooking our own meals We were starting to realise that making the journey was leading to more questions than answers, more grey areas, misinformation and conflicts of interest than we ever imagined – and that was just about food. We hadn't even got started on anything else that came into our home yet. Take a single, uncontroversial ingredient, let's say peppers. Should we buy them grown in a UK hothouse or ones trucked in from Spain? What if the Spanish ones are organic? Or the only UK option is wrapped in plastic? Which is better for the environment? Or at least less harmful? If we ever want to eat peppers again without negatively impacting the planet in some way are we going to have to grow our own? Because self-sufficiency wasn't really part of the plan.... All we could do was dive in and hope we didn't drown in the detail as we swam around looking for food that worked for us and the planet. We started with the problem of transport because food mileage was a well established measure that meant we could actually make some decisions based on numbers for once. Or, at least, we thought we could. Three quarters of all the fruit and veg now eaten in the UK is imported. Almost all the fruit we eat has been grown overseas, and soft fruit in particular is flown in. It turns out that the UK only produces half of all the food that is consumed on these shores – which is somewhat patriotically disconcerting as well as practically unsustainable. One of our family stories is the recollection of the first banana my great uncle ever tasted after WW2, shipped from the other side of the world. We were very aware that bananas came from overseas. But the fact that such a vast proportion of the apples eaten in Britain are imported from South Africa, or at best France, when the fruit grows very well in the orchards you can see from near our house seemed to be absurd. The obvious solution appeared to be only to buy food produced not just in the UK but as close to us as possible. That immediately threw up two questions. The first we were becoming increasingly familiar with. Were we really prepared to give up things we took great pleasure in for the sake of an unquantifiable, but undoubtedly minuscule effect? Or even just to settle for not adding to the runaway levels of damage that our disconnected food shop was causing each and every day? But the second question was whether a straightforward food mile approach was even a worthwhile aim. When I put the question of food miles to Riverford Organic Farmers, the sustainably produced veg box people, they told me that for most of the year our carbon impact would be smaller if we bought organic tomatoes trucked in from Spain than those heated thanks to fossil fuels in a UK hothouse. That means the answer has to be to eat food grown in the UK at the time of year it is traditionally produced.

'You don't have to read too many pages of this sizzling personal account of day-to-day life as a university lecturer to appreciate why the author has chosen to remain anonymous...' – Dennis Sherwood, Author, Missing the Mark Odd students, racist colleagues and inept administrators. Rising business influence and crumbling academic freedom. Absurdly wasteful corporate schemes and broken toilets. Low student welfare, an unwillingness to fail anyone and an A+ explosion in cheating... For a decade, students and academics have been painfully aware of the deteriorating state of UK universities. But the public has only been able to glean anecdotal accounts about poor value for money, underwhelming lecturers, falling standards and creaking facilities. Now, after a decade of frozen tuition fees, an anonymous academic presents a no-holds-barred account of life on campus. The Secret Lecturer takes you into the seminar room (a repurposed store cupboard, as it happens), the cranky staff meetings, the botched disciplinary meetings and a complicated town vs gown relationship. If you've ever wondered what it's like to study or work at many British universities in the 2020s, The Secret Lecturer will have you rattling through a book faster than a panicked undergraduate on an essay deadline. Whether you are filling in your UCAS form, moving into a university hall of residence, or just want to know what life is like in a modern college, this book has the low-down. The Secret Lecturer does for higher education in the UK what The Secret Barrister did for the law courts: reveal the unedifying, sometimes strange truth about a system we think we all know.

How robots will change our world Some fear that robots could do half our jobs and even wipe us out. But is that likely? Smart machines already make our cars and clean our homes. Soon they could drive us about, teach our children, and keep our parents company. While dealing with the ethical concerns about Artificial Intelligence, Bennie Mols and Nieske Vergunst reveal the history, present and future of robots. They show how moving AI could allow the lame to walk again, rescue survivors from collapsed buildings, and boost the global fight against hunger and pollution. Welcome to a vivid view of our robot future. With 60 colour photos.

A practical guide to reaping the benefits of a four-day working week Reveals both the challenges and advantages of smarter working Features productivity tips, real-life case studies and resources Expert author who runs the UK's 4-Day Week Campaign

• Popular 'start here' guide to the next big tech wave • People want to know about AI because of its power (AI is a top web search topic) • An accessible, expert guide by the author of the first popular book on TikTok

- Only in-depth independent book on YouTube - Gripping tech and business saga - Valuable insight for creators, media students and marketing professionals

16 revealing stories about the human brain Ever wondered how Scandinavians cope with 24-hour darkness, why we feel pain - or whether smartphones really make children stupid? Have you heard about the US army's research into supercharging minds? You need some Brainology. Written for Wellcome, the health charity, these stories follow doctors as they solve the puzzle of our emotions, nerves and behaviour. Discover fascinating and intriguing stories from the world of science. Contents - Ouch! The science of pain - John Walsh - Why doctors are reclaiming LSD and ecstasy - Sam Wong - Inside the mind of an interpreter - Geoff Watts - How should we deal with dark winters? - Linda Geddes - Smartphones won't* make your kids dumb (*Probably) - Olivia Solon - You can train your mind into 'receiving' medicine - Jo Marchant - Charting the phenomenon of deep grief - Andrea Volpe - The mirror cure for phantom limb pain - Srinath Perur - Can you think yourself into a different person? - Will Storr - How to survive a troubled childhood - Lucy Maddox - What tail-chasing dogs reveal about humans - Shayla Love - A central nervous solution to arthritis - Gaia Vince - Could virtual reality headsets relieve pain? - Jo Marchant - What it means to be homesick in the 21st Century - John Osborne - Lighting up brain tumours with Project Violet - Alex O'Brien - The US military plan to supercharge brains - Emma Young EXTRACT Ouch! The science of pain John Walsh One night in May, my wife sat up in bed and said, 'I've got this awful pain just here.' She prodded her abdomen and made a face. 'It feels like something's really wrong.' Woozily noting that it was 2am, I asked what kind of pain it was. 'Like something's biting into me and won't stop,' she said. 'Hold on,' I said blearily, 'help is at hand.' I brought her a couple of ibuprofen with some water, which she downed, clutching my hand and waiting for the ache to subside. An hour later, she was sitting up in bed again, in real distress. 'It's worse now,' she said, 'really nasty. Can you phone thedoctor?' Miraculously, the family doctor answered the phone at 3am, listened to her recital of symptoms and concluded, 'It might be your appendix. Have you had yours taken out?' No, she hadn't. 'It could be appendicitis,' he surmised, 'but if it was dangerous you'd be in much worse pain than you're in. Go to the hospital in the morning, but for now, take some paracetamol and try to sleep.' Barely half an hour later, the balloon went up. She was awakened for the third time, but now with a pain so savage and uncontainable it made her howl like a tortured witch face down on a bonfire. The time for murmured assurances and spousal procrastination was over. I rang a local minicab, struggled into my clothes, bundled her into a dressing gown, and we sped to St Mary's Paddington at just before 4am. The flurry of action made the pain subside, if only through distraction, and we sat for hours while doctors brought forms to be filled, took her blood pressure and ran tests. A registrar poked a needle into my wife's wrist and said, 'Does that hurt? Does that? How about that?' before concluding: 'Impressive. You have a very high pain threshold.' The pain was from pancreatitis, brought on by rogue gallstones that had escaped from her gall bladder and made their way, like fleeing convicts, to a refuge in her pancreas, causing agony. She was given a course of antibiotics and, a month later, had an operation to remove her gall bladder. 'It's keyhole surgery,' said the surgeon breezily, 'so you'll be back to normal very soon. Some people feel well enough to take the bus home after the operation.' His optimism was misplaced. My lovely wife, she of the admirably high pain threshold, had to stay overnight, and came home the following day filled with painkillers; when they wore off, she writhed with suffering.