{"title":"Books by Charles Handy","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780099301257","title":"The Empty Raincoat","description":"*Can you find the way to Davy's bar? *Do you know the Doughnut principal? *How do you make a Chinese contract? The changes which Charles Handy foresaw in THE AGE OF UNREASON are happening. Endless growth can make a candyfloss economy, and capitalism must be its own sternest critic. Handy reaches here for a philosophy beyond the mechanics of business organisations, beyond material choices, to try and establish an alternative universe where the work ethics can contain a natural sense of continuity, connections and a sense of direction. We are now a world of shareholders, but everyone has a stake in the future. With warmth, wit and the most challenging insights, Charles Handy seeks to turn paradox into real progress.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56222840619381,"sku":"9780099301257","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780099301257_4d44a560-9d12-4302-96a9-dfa2df014c7f.jpg?v=1786011464"},{"product_id":"9780099415657","title":"The Elephant And The Flea","description":"Bookseller Charles Handy's best-selling new book looks at how individuals (the fleas in his analogy) relate to multi-national conglomerates (the elephants). In addition to addressing how and why we work today, he covers a wide range of preoccupations and issues including the increasing fear of big business: 'it is easy to see why many observers think that the big corporations are now both richer and more powerful than many nation states.  They worry that these new corporate states are accountable to no-one - that their financial clout makes governments beholden to them ... The elephants, people feel, are out of control.'","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56222844879221,"sku":"9780099415657","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780099415657_00cb681a-6d65-4630-aadb-ee35b113a982.jpg?v=1786011543"},{"product_id":"9781786090973","title":"21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges","description":"Charles Handy is one of the giants of contemporary thought. His books on management – including \u003ci\u003eUnderstanding Organizations\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGods of Management\u003c\/i\u003e – have changed the way we view business. His work on broader issues and trends – such as \u003ci\u003eBeyond Certainty \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Second Curve – \u003c\/i\u003ehas changed the way we view society.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn his new book, Handy builds on a life's work to glimpse into the future and see what challenges and opportunities the next generation faces. How will people cope with change in a world where the old certainties no longer apply? What goals will and should they set themselves? How will they find purpose and fulfilment in their lives? Clear-eyed and optimistic by turns, he sets out the questions that everyone needs to ask themselves, and points us in the direction of the answers.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305721049461,"sku":"9781786090973","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781786090973_304743be-e58d-4f55-8f77-35803d6e3abf.jpg?v=1786025913"},{"product_id":"9781847941343","title":"The Second Curve","description":"\u003cb\u003eBritain's leading guru looks to the future.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCharles Handy is one of the giants of contemporary thought. His books on management  – including \u003ci\u003eUnderstanding Organizations \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eGods of Management –\u003c\/i\u003e have changed the way we view business. His work on broader issues and trends – such as \u003ci\u003eBeyond Certainty –\u003c\/i\u003e has changed the way we view society. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Second Curve\u003c\/i\u003e, Handy builds on a life's work to glimpse into the future and see what challenges and opportunities lie ahead. He looks at current trends in capitalism and asks whether it is a sustainable system. He explores the dangers of a society built on credit. He challenges the myth that remorseless growth is essential. He even asks whether we should rethink our roles in life – as students, parents, workers and voters – and what the aims of an ideal society of the future should be. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProvocative and thoughtful as ever, he sets out the questions we all need to ask ourselves – and points us in the direction of some of the answers.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308399309173,"sku":"9781847941343","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781847941343_2e9031ce-363c-4ec2-9162-b79558495dc1.jpg?v=1786029245"},{"product_id":"9781804954157","title":"The View from Ninety","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFROM THE BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF \u003ci\u003eTHE EMPTY RAINCOAT \u003c\/i\u003eAND \u003ci\u003eUNDERSTANDING ORGANISATIONS.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of the major thinkers of our times reflects on how to live richer, more contented lives, drawing on wisdom built up over a lifetime\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times \u003c\/i\u003eBest Business Book of 2025\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver a span of seven decades, Charles Handy was, variously, a businessman, a writer, a philanthropist and a philosopher. Not even a stroke as he approached the age of 90 dimmed his intellectual curiosity or his immense zest for life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this, his final book, written from the vantage point of a contemplative old age and drawing on his articles for \u003ci\u003eThe Idler\u003c\/i\u003e he shares his thoughts on the big questions with which we all grapple:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat things really matter?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat daily worries should we learn to treat as unimportant?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow do we become more accepting of ourselves and of those around us?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow do we discover purpose in our everyday existence? How do we cope with grief and loss?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing in part on his own experience, in part on the wisdom of others, he sets out the principles of enjoying a fulfilled and contented life, and gently points the way to the practicalities of achieving it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56369220944245,"sku":"9781804954157","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781804954157_db4e36a7-ff20-4dc1-aee5-e4257ae91de6.jpg?v=1786028104"},{"product_id":"myself-and-other-more-important-matters","title":"Myself and Other More Important Matters","description":"\u003cp\u003eCharles Handy is perhaps best known outside the business world as a wise and warm presenter of Radio 4's 'Thought for the Day'. Long recognised as one of the world's leading business thinkers (over a million copies of his books have been sold around the world), in \u003ci\u003eMyself and Other More Important Matters\u003c\/i\u003e he leaves the management territory he has so effectively and influentially mapped in the past to explore the wider issues and dilemmas - both moral and creative - raised by the turning points of his long and successful life.Here he investigates the big issues of how life can best be lived as they have emerged from the unfolding of his life and his unique and influential understanding of what really matters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom supplying oil by boat to an area larger than England as a bullish young Shell executive in Borneo to realising that there was a big difference between describing the development of a 'portfolio' life (made up of a variety of activities for a range of purposes and pay) in theory and actually himself leaving behind full-time employment, from helping to start up the London and Open business schools to listening and talking to people all over the world about how they want to manage their lives, Handy's telling of his experiences proves both revealing and significant.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466688700789,"sku":"9780099481881","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780099481881.jpg?v=1785654748"},{"product_id":"understanding-organizations","title":"Understanding Organizations","description":"\u003cp\u003eOrganizations are a part of everyday life, whether in schools, hospitals, police stations or commercial companies. In this classics text, Charles Handy argues that the key to successful organizations lies in a better understanding of the needs and motivations of the people within them. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnderstanding Organizations \u003c\/i\u003eoffers an extended 'dictionary' of the key concepts -- culture, motivations, leadership, role-playing, co-ordinating and consultation -- and then shows how this 'language' can help us find new solutions to familiar problems. Few management writers have been as consistently challenging and influential as Charles Handy. Firmly established as one of \u003ci\u003ethe\u003c\/i\u003e core business texts, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in organizations and how to make them work better.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466756399477,"sku":"9780140156034","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780140156034.jpg?v=1785654817"},{"product_id":"age-of-unreason","title":"The Age Of Unreason","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe will not survive unless we adapt to the way the world is changing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Age of Unreason\u003c\/i\u003e is an inspiring vision of an era of new discoveries, new enlightenment and new freedoms. It helps us to understand what Tom Peters, the American business guru, has called the new 'upside down' competitive realities in the world of work and of leisure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is a book to turn your understanding of the world on its head.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466831798645,"sku":"9780099548317","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780099548317.jpg?v=1785654906"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-charles-handy.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}