{"title":"Books by Ian Thomson","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780571227624","title":"The Dead Yard","description":"\u003cp\u003eJamaica used to be the source of much of Britain's wealth, a tropical paradise for the planters, a Babylonian exile for the Africans shipped to the Caribbean. It became independent in 1962.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJamaica is now a country in despair. It has become a cockpit of gang warfare, drug crime and poverty. Haunted by the legacy of imperialism, its social and racial divisions seem entrenched. Its extraordinary musical tradition and physical beauty are shadowed by casual murder, police brutality and political corruption.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIan Thomson shows a side of Jamaica that tourists rarely see.He met ordinary Jamaicans in their homes and workplaces; and his encounters with the white elite, who still own most of Jamaica's businesses and newspapers, are unforgettable. Thomson brings alive the country's unique racial and ethnic mix; the all-pervading influence of the USA; and the increasing disillusionment felt by its people, who can't rely on the state for their most basic security. At the heart of the book is Jamaica's tense, uneasy relationship with Britain, to whom it remains politically and culturally bound.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56292526784885,"sku":"9780571227624","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780571227624_be7577ef-a628-46e4-8d2e-2d2cfd97f51e.jpg?v=1786013732"},{"product_id":"9781529217599","title":"Urgent Business – Five Myths Business Needs to Ove rcome to Save Itself and the Planet","description":"Getting business on board is essential if we want to achieve the United Nations’ goal of building a better future for people and planet by 2030. But much of the sustainable business agenda falls woefully short of what is needed, with some practices even accelerating the problems they’re trying to solve.  In Urgent Business Ian Thomson and Dominic Bates, a business school professor and a former journalist, combine their expert insight to challenge five common myths that trap businesses in an unsustainable black-hole and offer a manifesto for change. Combining cutting-edge research – from AI and systems theory to climate science and behavioural economics – with fascinating real-world examples, the authors highlight the practical and holistic steps all businesses can take to play their part in addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. .","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303409889653,"sku":"9781529217599","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529217599_c6b6b278-fddb-4df9-b362-caa8abf8ea19.jpg?v=1786021626"},{"product_id":"9781789548778","title":"Dante's Divine Comedy","description":"\u003cp\u003eA \u003ci\u003eTLS\u003c\/i\u003e Book of the Year. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Erudite and urgent, Ian Thomson's \u003ci\u003eDante's Divine Comedy\u003c\/i\u003e is another book that everyone ought to read'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Succinct but wide-ranging, Ian Thomson's richly illustrated exploration of Dante's masterpiece is... fun... ingenious... fascinating'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A book worth savouring as a chunky, chatty, richly illustrated guide that brings Dante and his world within our reach'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA lively and wide-ranging exploration of a literary masterwork and its influence on writers, poets, artists and film-makers up to our own time. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDante has no equal as he sings of other-worldly horror and celestial beatitude alike. Yet for all our distance from medieval theology, the Florentine poet's allegorical journey through hell, purgatory and paradise remains one of the essential works of world literature. At least fifty English language versions of the \u003ci\u003eInferno\u003c\/i\u003e – the first part of Dante's poem – appeared in the twentieth century alone. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf Dante's \u003ci\u003eDivine Comedy\u003c\/i\u003e speaks to our present condition, it is because it tells the story of Everyman who sets out in search of salvation in this world. Dante composed his great poem in the spoken Italian of his time. He wrote about suffering bodies and human weakness, and about divine ecstasy, in words that have resonated with readers and writers for the last seven hundred years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56306875302261,"sku":"9781789548778","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781789548778_a3ad1137-5eab-4596-a355-3cdd4d250861.jpg?v=1786027199"},{"product_id":"primo-levi","title":"Primo Levi","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'One of the best literary biographies of the year...superb... Levi, I think, would have appreciated it' \u003ci\u003eObserver \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRe-issued to mark the centenary of Primo Levi’s birth, now featuring a new introduction from the author.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDiscover the definitive biography of the iconic writer and Holocaust survivor.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn 11 April 1987 the Italian writer and chemist Primo Levi fell to his death in the house where he was born. More than forty years after his rescue from a Nazi concentration camp, it seemed that Levi had taken his own life. His account of Auschwitz, \u003ci\u003eIf This Is a Man\u003c\/i\u003e, is recognised as one of the essential books of mankind.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIan Thomson spent over ten years in Italy and elsewhere researching and writing this matchless biography. This incomparable book unravels the strands of a life caught between the factory and the typewriter, family and friends. Deeply researched, it sheds new light on Levi's recurring depressions and unearths vital information about his premature death.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466763477365,"sku":"9780099515210","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780099515210.jpg?v=1785654824"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-ian-thomson.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}