If you’re looking for your next business-focused, engaging and informative reading, the Financial Times has the latest shortlist for the 2022 Business Book Awards.
Last year’s winner of “This is how they told me the end of the world,” New York Times reporter Nicole Perlroth’s astounding exploration of cyberattacks and the sophisticated hackers who use them to wreak havoc on individuals, businesses, and governments.
On Thursday, the Financial Times announced the six finalists for this year’s awards, all announced between November 11. November 16, 2021 and November 15 this year. Finalists for this year’s awards cover a range of topics, including the fascinating rise of China’s sprawling internet giant Tencent, as well as the struggle to control the global semiconductor chip market and the investigation of fraud and even murder by major shipping companies in industry scandals.
The winner will be announced in December. 5 At the ceremony in London, the author will receive a cash prize of approximately $32,700. The runner-up will receive nearly $11,000 each.
Meanwhile, you can judge for yourself. Here are the six finalists for this year’s FT Business Book Awards:
“Dead in the water: Murder and fraud in the world’s most secretive industry”
In “Dead in the Water,” Bloomberg reporters Matthew Campbell and Kitcher explore the 2011 hijacking of the bogus tanker Brillante Virtuoso and the subsequent murder of a British maritime surveyor tasked with investigating the incident.
The Financial Times commented that the book was “partly a well-written, well-paced thriller. But it’s also a morality story.”
Empire of Influence: A Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition
Since its founding in 1998, Tencent has become one of the largest companies in China and the world, thanks to a range of valuable technology and entertainment assets, starting with instant messaging software and now including the world’s largest video game distribution One of the companies, Tencent Games.
In “Empire of Influence,” Bloomberg tech reporter Lulu Chen uses internal interviews to track Tencent’s growth into a nearly $360 billion company.
The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Age of the Free Market
Cambridge University historian Gary Gerstle puts neoliberalism under the microscope in his new book. Gerstle explores how America’s growing focus on free trade and free-market capitalism helped shape the American political landscape in the late 20th century more than 40 years ago, while arguing that in recent years, with populist movements such as former President Donald Trump exercise.
Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption
Washington Post columnist Sebastian Malaby won the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award in 2016 for his biography of economist Alan Greenspan. His latest book, Power Laws, looks at the role venture capitalists play in shaping Silicon Valley and the tech industry in general.
Speaking with venture capitalists who back some of the world’s most successful tech companies, from Google to Alibaba, Malaby examines the decision-making process of venture capital and how much their success depends on “gut and personality” , not spreadsheets and data”.
“Chip Wars: The Battle for the World’s Most Critical Technology”
Supply chain issues that have led to a persistent global shortage of semiconductor chips have made it painfully clear just how pervasive and important these tiny circuits are in our modern world.
In “Chip Wars,” historian Chris Miller delves into the history of semiconductor chip design and how modern nations continue to spend billions of dollars vying for market supremacy to design and manufacture chips for Chips in everything from smartphones to cars and home appliances.
Disorder: Tough Times in the 21st Century
Disorder examines the current geopolitical and economic landscape through changing energy consumption and the global shift to green technologies. In “The Chaos,” Helen Thompson, professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge, explores the role the shift away from fossil fuel reliance over the past decade has played in a variety of political and economic disruptions, including ongoing instability in the Middle East, the US and Populist movements abroad, even Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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