Books that make you more well-informed
Discover essential books to become more well-informed, from Machiavelli's The Prince to Lynette Padwa's smart reference guide—your curated reading list for knowledge and insight.
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Everything You Pretend to Know and Are Afraid Someone Will Ask
by Lynette Padwa
You can fool some of the people all of the time—but wouldn’t you rather really know what you’re talking about? Why are conservatives on the “right” and liberals on the “left”? What is an archetype? Most people drop these and other cultural references in conversation all the time without really knowing much about them. But with this witty, information-packed book, you can quickly bone up on the actual facts behind the multitude of data, events, and words that come at you each day—and that you’ve been casually bandying about without really understanding. Here are invaluable explanations of a wide range of topics that are assumed to be common knowledge, from deciphering newsspeak (What is a spin doctor?) to psychobabble (What’s the difference between the ego and the id?) to cyberlingo (What is cyberlingo?); from the supposedly obvious (What makes cholesterol good or bad?) to the deceptively simple (What is a formula race car?). Perfect as a quick reference tool, for browsing, or simply for sharing impressive, newfound knowledge with family and friends, this handbook will endow you with genuine cultural literacy in just a few hours of fun-filled reading.
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Everything you pretend to know about food and are afraid someone will ask
No summary available.
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The Prince
by Niccolo Machiavelli
Here is the world's most famous master plan for seizing and holding power. Astonishing in its candor The Prince even today remains a disturbingly realistic and prophetic work on what it takes to be a prince . . . a king . . . a president. When, in 1512, Machiavelli was removed from his post in his beloved Florence, he resolved to set down a treatise on leadership that was practical, not idealistic. In The Prince he envisioned would be unencumbered by ordinary ethical and moral values; his prince would be man and beast, fox and lion. Today, this small sixteenth-century masterpiece has become essential reading for every student of government, and is the ultimate book on power politics.