Empire of Cotton. It's a story about the development of the international cotton trade, which was the specific environment within which many of the state and capitalist institutions we now live with were originally developed. It's a whirlwind of history about international relations, domestic relations, labor, and the development of the wage system. Slightly pedantic, but an eye-opening read. The Name Of The Wind. I bought this because it was the #1 selling book in Borderlands Books last month (I always swing by that bookstore when I'm in San Francisco). Entertaining read, good world-building. Linux: What Every Superuser Should Know. A No Starch Press book about Linux. It weaves a rich tapestry out of disparate knowledge I already had.
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