{"title":"Mr Christopher Booker","description":"\u003cp\u003eMr Christopher Booker offers a compelling exploration of human thought and culture, delving into the structures that shape our understanding of stories and society. His works, such as \u003cem\u003eThe Seven Basic Plots\u003c\/em\u003e, examine the recurring narratives that underpin literature and art, inviting readers to reflect on the deep patterns that inform creativity and communication.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlending insights from science and the humanities, Booker's writing challenges conventional perspectives with rigorous analysis and engaging prose. Readers interested in the intersection of \u003cstrong\u003eScience \u0026amp; Nature\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eArts \u0026amp; Culture\u003c\/strong\u003e will find his books thought-provoking and richly rewarding.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"groupthink-by-mr-christopher-booker-9781399417327","title":"Groupthink","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eGroupthink\u003c\/i\u003e, his final book, the late, eminent journalist and bestselling author Christopher Booker seeks to identify the hidden key to understanding much that is disturbing about the world today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith reference to the ideas of a Yale professor who first identified the theory, and to the writings of George Orwell from whose ‘newspeak’ the word was adapted, Booker sheds new light on the remarkable – and worrying – effects of ‘groupthink’, and its influence on our society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBooker defines the three rules of groupthink: the adoption of a common view or belief not based on objective reality; the establishment of a consensus of right-minded people, an ‘in group’; and the need to treat the views of anyone who questions the belief as wholly unacceptable. He shows how various interest groups, journalists and even governments in the twenty-first century have subscribed to this way of thinking, with deeply disturbing results.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Booker shows, such behaviour has led to a culture of fear, heralded by countless examples throughout history, from Revolutionary Russia to Napoleonic France and Hitler’s Germany. In the present moment, it has caused countless errors in judgement and the division of society into highly polarised, oppositional factions. From the behaviour of the controversial Rhodes Must Fall movement to the sacking of James Damore of Google, society’s attitudes towards gender equality, the Iraq war, and the ‘European Dream’, careers and lives have been lost as those in the ‘in-group’ police society with their new form of puritanism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Booker argues, only by examining its underlying causes can we understand the sinister power of groupthink which permeates all aspects of our lives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833094557932,"sku":"9781399417327","price":26.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6541333482686.jpg?v=1758435929"},{"product_id":"the-seven-basic-plots-by-mr-christopher-booker-9781399415927","title":"The Seven Basic Plots","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of 'basic stories' in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut this is only the prelude to an investigation into how and why we are 'programmed' to imagine stories in these ways, and how they relate to the inmost patterns of human psychology. Drawing on a vast array of examples, from Proust to detective stories, from the Marquis de Sade to E.T., Christopher Booker then leads us through the extraordinary changes in the nature of storytelling over the past 200 years, and why so many stories have 'lost the plot' by losing touch with their underlying archetypal purpose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBooker analyses why evolution has given us the need to tell stories and illustrates how storytelling has provided a uniquely revealing mirror to mankind's psychological development over the past 5000 years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis seminal book opens up in an entirely new way our understanding of the real purpose storytelling plays in our lives, and will be a talking point for years to come.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47773179609324,"sku":"9781399415927","price":140.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781399415927-the-seven-basic-plots.jpg?v=1782184906"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/mr-christopher-booker.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}