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Richard Black

Coal, oil and gas provide four-fifths of the energy that powers our modern world. But continuing to burn them will mean wrecking the only planet we have. Is there a way out?

In The Future of Energy, journalist and analyst Richard Black argues that there is, and that the transition to a clean energy world is already underway. He shows that with just five key technologies we can replace the burning of fossil fuels almost entirely, as quickly as society decides.

Doing so will do much more than halt climate change. The transition will bring cheaper energy, cleaner air and more jobs. It will remove some of the factors behind oppression, injustice and conflict. And it is supported by an overwhelming majority of the world's population. This may not be the story of energy that you hear most about from politicians, business leaders and journalists, but it is the one that matters.

Melville House UK

Futures

The Future of Energy

Joanna Nadin

Look in the mirror – what do you see?

We all feel, instinctively, that self exists. That somewhere inside us, under the clothes, the make-up and self-tan, lurks a hard 'pearl', a kernel of truth called 'me'. And it's big business uncovering that 'authentic' kernel. It's also a fool's errand, because that 'true self'? It doesn't exist. Self is no more than a story we tell ourselves. It's mutable, pliable as Plasticine. Worse, it's not even strictly autobiographical, but co-authored with those around us. And as such, there is no one version, but myriad, and the number is growing as we are exposed to ever more connections.

We are already seeing the effects travel, television, and celebrity culture can have on the formation of self, but as digital and social media exposure grows, and in the advent of AI, what will happen to our sense of self? Can we become ever more multiple and adapt better to our globalised world? Or will we dissolve into narcissitic, detached 'nobodies'?

The Future of the Self

Simon Okotie

We're used to the novel being declared dead, dying, or endangered. Seemingly every few years, a critic will read it the last rites – yet the form remains more popular than ever with readers.

In The Future of the Novel, author Simon Okotie presents a bold future for long-form fiction, and suggests its evolution is far from over. Using John Carruthers' 1927 book Scheherezade, or The Future of the English Novel, as a starting point, Okotie then cites others who have since meditated on the direction of the form, including Henry James, D. H. Lawrence, William Burroughs, Anaïs Nin, Zadie Smith and China Miéville.
All of which informs Okotie's own vision for the novel of tomorrow – one that extends even further into the reaches of the subconscious, and doesn't shy away from the uneasy role artificial intelligence will inevitably play in coming decades. The Future of The Novel is a rich and immersive portrait of an artform which, despite constant claims to the contrary, is more alive and exciting than ever.

The Future of the Novel

Monica Hanna

Think of Ancient Egypt, and you're likely to think of hieroglyphic-covered tombs being unsealed by Victorian explorers.

But how did the practice which became known as 'Egyptology' become the domain of wealthy Europeans? And what can be done in future to give agency back to the country where it all began?

Dr Monica Hanna has spent her career monitoring and trying to disrupt the flow of Ancient Egyptian antiquities out of her home country. In The Future of Egyptology, she presents a broad and generous vision of Egyptology: a subject not only concerned with the glitz and glamour of the Pharaohs, but with connecting the ancient world with the Egypt of today – as well as reclaiming its treasures.

Hanna argues that only by disentangling Egyptology from its problematic past of looting, racism and Euro-centric thinking can the subject truly find a way forward. The Future of Egyptology is a brilliant, unexpected and deeply rewarding journey into the future, via ancient history.

The Future of Egyptology

Futures - The book series

Futures - The book series

Futures books in order

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