As Scotland’s independence referendum approaches I thought I would review some of the better books and essays I’ve read about it over the past few months. One of those is Yes: The Radical Case for Independence by James Foley and Pete Ramand.
Richard Evans’ science fiction novel Kosmonaut Zero is a clever commentary on the perennial human desire to transcend the limitations of the body.
The Commissar Vanishes, David King’s classic visual history of Stalin’s Russia, has been published in Britain for the first time.
Kenya Hara’s little book White is a meditation on the colour’s qualities as a field of imminent possibility.
Merz to Emigré and Beyond by Steven Heller, first published in 2003 and republished this summer, is a richly illustrated chronicle of the radical magazines, newspapers and journals published during the 20th century.
Massimo Vignelli (1931-2014), who died last week, was one of the great designers of the 20th century. The principles he applied to his work tell us a lot about what design is and isn’t.
The avant-garde and everyday design: notes on the BBC documentary Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness by Jonathan Meades.