NF_website

Reading lists

10 Vintage Non-Fiction Recommendations

What Killed Capitalism

Technofeudalism

‘What an amazing piece of work this is. Ground-breaking, thought-provoking and highly accessible. Everyone should read it. The dark, scary, exciting song of our age. 100 out of 100’ IRVINE WELSH 
 
Capitalism is dead. Welcome to technofeudalism. 
 
In his boldest and most far-reaching book, the visionary economist and number-one bestselling author Yanis Varoufakis shows how the owners of big tech became the world's feudal overlords – replacing capitalism with a fundamentally new system that enslaves our minds, defies democracy and rewrite the rules of global power. 
 
But as Varoufakis also reveals, technofeudalism contains new opportunities to thwart and overturn it, bringing into focus more clearly than ever the revolution we need to escape our digital prison. 
 
‘An epochal, once-in-a-millennium shift . . . this isn't just new technology. This is the world grappling with an entirely new economic system and therefore political power’ Observer 
 
‘An urgent demand to seize the means of computation’ CORY DOCTOROW 
 
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

What an amazing piece of work this is. Ground-breaking, thought-provoking and highly accessible. Everyone should read it. This is where we’re going. The dark, scary, exciting song of our age. 100 out of 100

An important new book ... that describes what is happening in terms of an epochal, once-in-a-millennium shift … in Varoufakis's telling, this isn't just new technology. This is the world grappling with an entirely new economic system and therefore political power

Arresting … an ambitious thinker and a lively writer … Varoufakis is right that we are in thrall to digital platforms, who hold our data hostage and prevent us from switching to “a competing cloud fief”

Varoufakis is a remarkable combination of analyst and dreamer… as always, Varoufakis makes his readers think… an important achievement

In his characteristically enthralling style, Varoufakis guides the reader through some of the most significant trends in the modern economy, showing clearly how the big tech giants have built an economy that works for them - and how everyone else can take power back

A book for anybody who wants to understand the mess we're in - and since we're all in this mess, that makes it a book for everybody

With superb storytelling, Varoufakis shows how capitalism has eaten itself alive, mutating into an entirely different and more dangerous beast, and calls on us to free ourselves from digital serfdom

Provocative and accessible, this is sure to be a key touchstone in debates about the future of the global economy

NICK SRNICEK, co-author of Inventing the Future

What if capitalism died and no one noticed - not even the capitalists? Digital platforms usurped capitalism and installed something far worse. This book is an urgent demand to seize the means of computation

Reading Technofeudalism generates an urgent impulse to imagine new techno-utopias… an entertaining read for anyone interest in how the socio-economic structure is morphing across the globe

Capitalism is dead. Welcome to technofeudalism. 
 
In his boldest and most far-reaching book, the visionary economist and number-one bestselling author Yanis Varoufakis shows how the owners of big tech became the world's feudal overlords –replacing capitalism with a fundamentally new system that enslaves our minds, defies democracy and rewrite the rules of global power. 
 
But as Varoufakis also reveals, technofeudalism contains new opportunities to thwart and overturn it, bringing into focus more clearly than ever the revolution we need to escape our digital prison.

Dispatches from an Alternative Present

Another Now

What would a fair and equal society actually look like? The world-renowned economist and bestselling author presents his radical and subversive answer

'I could not recommend this more. If you're looking for a sense of optimism, a sense of political possibility, this book is very important' Owen Jones 
 
What would a fair and equal society actually look like? 
 
Imagine a world with no banks. No stock market. No tech giants. No billionaires. 
 
In Another Now world-famous economist, Yanis Varoufakis, shows us what such a world would look like. Far from being a fantasy, he describes how it could have come about - and might yet. But would we really want it? 
 
Varoufakis's boundary-breaking new book confounds expectations of what the good society would look like and confronts us with the greatest question: are we able to build a better society, despite our flaws. 
 
'A vision of a new society with new ways of thinking is possibly the most important thing an artist can offer at the moment' Brian Eno 
 
 
Yanis Varoufakis, Sunday Times bestseller, August 2024

Combining a provocative thought-experiment with a deeply original sci-fi narrative, this book is both visionary in its search for new possibilities and realistic in its embrace of the  complexities of our human nature

Alfonso Cuarón, Oscar-winning Director of Roma and Gravity

A landmark work ... A vision of a new society with new ways of thinking is possibly the most important thing an artist can offer at the moment

I am enjoying Yanis Varoufakis's Another Now. The way we live is not inevitable

I could not recommend this more. If you're looking for a sense of optimism, a sense of political possibility, this book is very important

From @yanisvaroufakis' sf novel ANOTHER NOW, the absolute best description of the scam of #InvestmentBanking I've ever read

There is something exciting, even invigorating, about envisioning this world alongside Varoufakis ... one finishes Another Now buzzing with a sense of possibility

Another Now is structurally, ideologically and linguistically an extraordinary work

I've absolutely loved reading [Another Now] ... the second I started reading it, it surprised and intrigued me

Another Now is not only a marvellously good read - it is a notable addition to the literature of social change

The reason Varoufakis seems to have captured the imaginations of so many is that his words about the European crisis speak universal truths about democracy, capitalism and social policy

'A landmark work' Brian Eno 
 
Imagine a world with no banks. No stock market. No tech giants. No billionaires. 
 
Imagine if Occupy and Extinction Rebellion actually won. 
 
In Another Now world-famous economist, Yanis Varoufakis, shows us what such a world would look like. Far from being a fantasy, he describes how it could have come about - and might yet. But would we really want it? 
 
Varoufakis's boundary-breaking new book confounds expectations of what the good society would look like and confronts us with the greatest question: are we able to build a better society, despite our flaws. 
 
'One of my few heroes. As long as people like Varoufakis are around, there still is hope' Slavoj Žižek

The Sunday Times Bestseller

Talking to My Daughter

The number-one bestselling, world renowned economist writes a series of letters to his daughter to explain what economics is and why it is so dangerous.

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** 
 
Yanis Varoufakis, world renowned economist, writes to his daughter to teach her the hazards of capitalism. 
 
'Why is there so much inequality?' asked Xenia to her father. Answering her questions in a series of accessible and tender letters, Varoufakis educates her to what economics and capitalism is and why it is so dangerous. 
 
Taking from memories of her childhood and a variety of well-known tales - from Oedipus and Faust to Frankenstein and The Matrix - Varoufakis turns Talking To My Daughter into an enjoyable and engaging read, without ever shying from the harder truths. Greece's former finance minister explains everything you need to know to understand why economics is the most important drama of our times. 
 
In answering his daughter's deceptively simple questions, Varoufakis disentangles our troubling world with remarkable clarity and child-like honesty, as well as inspiring us to make it a better one. 
 
'Utterly accessible, deeply humane and startlingly original - a potent democratic tool at the perfect time' Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine

It's great fun to read ... Varoufakis has started a debate here, and he's done it brilliantly

Utterly accessible, deeply humane and startlingly original – a potent democratic tool at the perfect time

A provocative, challenging, yet non-patronising analysis of the global economy. By using ancient myths, contemporary culture and family stories, Varoufakis makes the text intimate and accessible

Experts have often found it easier to hide behind opaque language than to explain complex concepts in simple terms … Varoufakis wants to smash this barrier. . . He equips his readers with the beginnings of a new language, and punctures myth after myth – anna minton, guardian

Varoufakis's brief history of capitalism unspools with characteristic fluency and verve ... those seeking to better understand the 'black magic' of bankers should look no further

A stimulating and elegant perspective on market economies. It is accessible but not simplistic … A superb chapter on banking ... provocative and stylish

If you're Left-wing, or even if you have doubts about market economies, you'll love his arguments because they're so easy to understand. If you're on the Right, you'll have a very clear idea of how your cleverest opponents think ... Varoufakis tells all this with exemplary verve ... It's great fun to read ... Varoufakis has started a debate here, and he's done it brilliantly

A provocative, challenging, yet non-patronising analysis of the global economy: what it is, how it came to be and why it can never be apolitical. By using ancient myths, contemporary culture and family stories, Varoufakis makes the text intimate and accessible

Experts have often found it easier to hide behind opaque language than to explain complex concepts in simple terms … Varoufakis wants to smash this barrier: he argues from the outset that if we defer to experts on the economy then we hand over all our most important political decisions to them … Varoufakis does equip his readers with the beginnings of a new language, and punctures myth after myth

One of the most accurate and detailed descriptions of modern power ever written

Varoufakis has the greatest political virtues of all – courage and honesty

One of my few heroes. As long as people like Varoufakis are around, there still is hope

Superbly written ... he was – and is – right

Martin Wolf, Financial Times, on Adults in the Room

An outstanding economist and political analyst

Astonishing … a reflection on the nature and meaning of power in our times

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** 
 
Yanis Varoufakis, world renowned economist, writes to his daughter to teach her the hazards of capitalism. 
 
'Why is there so much inequality?' asked Xenia to her father. Answering her questions in a series of accessible and tender letters, Varoufakis educates her to what economics and capitalism is and why it is so dangerous. 
 
Taking from memories of her childhood and a variety of well-known tales - from Oedipus and Faust to Frankenstein and The Matrix - Varoufakis turns Talking To My Daughter into an enjoyable and engaging read, without ever shying from the harder truths. Greece's former finance minister explains everything you need to know to understand why economics is the most important drama of our times. 
 
In answering his daughter's deceptively simple questions, Varoufakis disentangles our troubling world with remarkable clarity and child-like honesty, as well as inspiring us to make it a better one. 
 
'Utterly accessible, deeply humane and startlingly original - a potent democratic tool at the perfect time' Naomi Klein

My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment

Adults In The Room

An explosive, headline-making account from the world-famous economist of what happens when you take on the EU establishment

Varoufakis has written one of the greatest political memoirs of all time [and] one of the most accurate and detailed descriptions of modern power ever written

An important, terrifying must-read. In particular, it anatomises the way in which EU leaders operate with a brutal clarity … shocking and ultimately tragic … He gets to the heart of their failure more acutely than anyone … Varoufakis has the greatest political virtues of all – courage and honesty

A tremendously indiscreet account … drawing upon his own audio recordings and diaries of top-level meetings. It is deeply personal and very well written

The most jaw-dropping segments are the accounts of phone calls and closed-door meetings – often verbatim, courtesy of his secret recordings – between ministers and technocrats ... We see duplicity and cynicism ruling supreme .. A convincing critique ... Our own government should take note

This is a superbly written account of the struggle to alleviate the austerity imposed upon the Greek people by the eurozone. Greece, argues Varoufakis, has been put in a debtors’ prison and robbed of autonomy and dignity for the indefinite future. Critics would argue that he failed as finance minister in 2015 because he was insufficiently politic. More plausibly, he could never have succeeded, such were the vested interests arrayed against him. This outcome was — and is — a tragedy, because he was — and is — right. The bulk of Greek debt should indeed be cancelled outright. Read and weep

Martin Wolf, Financial Times Summer Reads

Astonishing … not simply a political biography but a reflection on the nature and meaning of power in our times … This really is an important book … you should read it … This book could be a game changer if it shakes we the people from our compliant slumber as passengers within the sinking ship of contemporary high power

Riveting … an extraordinary account of low cunning at the heart of Greece’s 2015 financial bailout … Admirably, he eschews denunciations, finding the human in his adversaries, even in his darkest moments

A blistering account ... should be required reading for David Davis and the government’s Brexit negotiating team

A fascinating reveal on the hidden world of what he calls the "deep establishment"… Varoufakis is a master of clarity and, as Theresa May prepares to steer the good ship GB through the dangerous shoals of Brexit, this is an invaluable account of how the political establishment really works

Together with Bernie Sanders, Varoufakis is the only other honest politician around

Few finance ministers have such a talent for economics as Yanis Varoufakis

It is important to take note of the ideas that Varoufakis continues to espouse … the essence of [his] agenda was – and remains – largely correct

His words about the European crisis speak universal truths about democracy, capitalism and social policy

A whistle-blowing memoir that doubles as a penetrating analysis of the eurozone crisis, one caused in Varoufakis’s view by the stubbornness and ideological dogmatism of what he calls Europe’s “deep establishment.” As Britain prepares to enter exit negotiations with the EU, many will turn to this book for insights… Adults in the Room has a fly-on-the-wall quality that makes it a captivating read

Passionate, indiscreet and forceful revenge on the smug elite of the European Union

Varoufakis’ book… should be required reading for anyone who believes that a Brexit outcome satisfactory to the UK is likely

** The Sunday Times #1 Bestseller** 
 
'One of the greatest political memoirs of all time' Guardian 
 
What happens when you take on the European establishment? 
 
Read as world-famous, provocative economist, and former Greece finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, blows the lid on his battle with EU officials over the Greek debt crisis. 
 
 Varoufakis sparked one of the most spectacular and controversial battles in recent political history with his attempt to renegotiate Greece’s relationship with the European Union. Yet despite the mass support of the Greek people, and simple logic of his arguments, he succeeded only in provoking the fury of Europe’s political, financial and media elite. 
 Exposing the real business taking place behind the EU’s closed doors, Varoufakis reveals all in this fearless, personal account. Adults In The Room is an extraordinary tale of brinkmanship, hypocrisy, collusion and betrayal that will shake the European and economic establishment to its foundations. 
 
Varoufakis is sending out an urgent wake-up call to renew European democracy before it is too late. 
 
**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**

Vintage Minis

Austerity

Vintage Minis bring you the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human – from birth to death and everything in between

VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. 
 
How do we choose between what is fair and just, and what our debtors demand of us? Yanis Varoufakis was put in such a dilemma in 2015 when he became the finance minister of Greece. In this rousing book, he charts the absurdities that underpin calls for austerity, as well as his own battles with a bureaucracy bent on ignoring the human cost of its every action. Passionately outspoken and tuned to the voices of the oppressed, Varoufakis presents a guide to modern economics, and its threat to democracy, like no other. 
 
Selected from the books And the Weak Suffer What They Must? and Adults in the Room

A Brief History of Capitalism

Talking to My Daughter About the Economy

A letter to his daughter by the #1 bestselling world-renowned economist using vivid, universally accessible stories to explain what economics is and why it is so dangerous

Random House presents the audio edition of Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis, read by Leighton Pugh. 
 
Why is there so much inequality? In this short book, world famous economist Yanis Varoufakis sets out to answer his daughter Xenia’s deceptively simple question. Using personal stories and famous myths – from Oedipus and Faust to Frankenstein and The Matrix – he explains what the economy is and why it has the power to shape our lives. 
 
Intimate yet universally accessible, Talking To My Daughter About the Economy introduces readers to the most important drama of our times, helping to make sense of a troubling world while inspiring us to make it a better one. 
 
‘A provocative, challenging, yet non-patronising analysis of the global economy: what it is, how it came to be and why it can never be apolitical. By using ancient myths, contemporary culture and family stories, Varoufakis makes the text intimate and accessible.’ – Observer 
 
‘Utterly accessible, deeply humane and startlingly original – a potent democratic tool at the perfect time.’ – Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not Enough

Yanis Varoufakis

A Personal History of Resistance

Eleni put an arm around him and said: “Come, come, life is ahead of us. Raise your soul now. We have much to do.” 
 
This is a book about how the great forces of history shape us – and how world-famous political activist Yanis Varoufakis was inspired by the resilience and the courage of his family, from his mother Eleni and grandmothers Anna and Trisevgeni, to his partner Danae. It is both an intimate portrait of a political awakening and a dramatic sweep through Greece's history of post-colonial independence, Nazi occupation, communist partisan resistance, Cold War fracture, civil war, fascist dictatorship, socialist revival and tumultuous present-day economic collapse. 
 
Raise Your Soul is a powerful tale of resistance and endurance – a beacon of hope for dark times.

Yanis Varoufakis

Books by Yanis Varoufakis

Articles featuring Yanis Varoufakis

10 Vintage Non-Fiction Recommendations

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter