I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

A wild and entertaining investigation into the business of eternal life.

From the epic of Gilgamesh to the alchemy of the philosopher’s stone, humanity’s eternal quest for immortality - and its rejuvenation tricks, therapies and tinctures - has always been our most mortal endeavour.

But now, the giants of invention and investment are building a fountain of youth of their own creation: one they not only engineer, but also own and control. Death is simply their next problem to solve, the latest expression of a hubris that regards humans as appliances to be fixed and machines to be upgraded. By harnessing technology to ‘cure’ ageing, and funding cutting-edge - and often controversial - research, today’s immortalises are locked in an arms race to be the first to pocket the profits of longevity.

What was once a wild west of experimentation has wormed its way into Washington’s corridors of power. Award-winning broadcaster and academic Aleks Krotoski journeys from those cult fringes to the heartlands of government to meet the moguls, effective altruists, geoscientists and entrepreneurs who are disrupting death. Along the way, she encounters radical life extortionists transfusing their teenage son’s blood, transhumanists who want to upload consciousness to the cloud, biohackers flogging AI-powered wellness apps and billionaire kingmakers building brand-new nations.

This razor-sharp, powerful and at times chilling investigation empowers us to consider what it truly means to be human, asking: do we really want a handful of Silicon Valley power brokers to be the architects of our forever?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Aleks Krotoski is an award-winning broadcaster, academic and author focusing on technology and social science. This is a really interesting overview of the tech bros’ foray into extending the human lifespan, that brings in libertarian desire to reduce regulation and build independent economic zones, effective altruism and, above all, profit but you get more from it if you are already familiar with some of these topics and can draw them together.

THE IMMORTALISTS: THE DEATH OF DEATH AND THE RACE FOR IMMORTAL LIFE was released in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

The world almost conquered famine. Until the 1980s, this scourge killed ten million people every decade, but by the early 2000s mass starvation had all but disappeared. Today, famines are resident, driven by war, blockade, hostility to humanitarian principles and a volatile global economy.

In Mass Starvation, world-renowned expert on humanitarian crisis and response Alex de Waal provides an authoritative history of modern famines: their causes, dimensions and why they ended. He analyses starvation as a crime and breaks new ground in examining forced starvation as an instrument of genocide and war. Refuting the enduring but erroneous view that attributes famine to overpopulation and natural disaster, he shows how political decision or political failing is an essential element in every famine, while the spread of democracy and human rights, and the ending of wars, were major factors in the near-ending of this devastating phenomenon.

Hard-hitting and deeply informed, Mass Starvation explains why man-made famine and the political decisions that could end it for good must once again become a top priority for the international community.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Alex de Waal is Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation and a Research Professor at Tufts University and in this compelling read that’s by turns fascinating and horrifying, he seeks to counter the Malthus theory that famine is an inevitable consequence of overpopulation by arguing that famines result from political decisions and war and that famines have been decreasing in magnitude over recent years and could be eradicated altogether.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.