Diane Banks

Profile, 2022 Why? I’m fascinated by the history of media - not just as nostalgia, but because every great media shift exposes how technology, culture and power really work together. I suspect that the BBC will eventually be viewed as a distinctly 20th-century institution: one of those vast post-war, mid-century projects designed to impose order, coherence and shared values after the devastation of the world wars. Alongside welfare states, national grids and public housing, i

Vintage, 2023 (first published by Chatto & Windus, 2022) Why? Anne Tyler is an author I've always meant to read, and I grabbed this on a Kindle promotion. Enjoyment factor I'd call this a very quiet novel and at no point felt myself rushing to get back to it, but at the same time, I wasn't compelled to give up. It's a multi-generational saga of an ordinary American family, spanning the late 1940s to the pandemic. The point is that the family members are not close, but neither

Penguin, 1959 (originally published by Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1957) Why? A mid-century classic which I'd not read, spotted in a second hand bookshop. I'm intrigued by anything which explores the social re-order following the War - fiction or non-fiction. Enjoyment factor This is a curious one. The protagonist is admirable for wanting to break from his working class roots, but is at the same time overly materially driven and with the tendency to objectify women. How much of thi

Bodley Head, September 2025 Why? Whatever might be said about Nick Clegg, his combination of experience at the top of politics and at the top of a global tech firm is unique, so he must have something to say that's worth a listen. Enjoyment factor This book is heavily co-written (the co-writer is duly acknowledged) and doesn't present the most succinct argument in the world, but nevertheless, it offers some valuable take-aways which haven't been given enough credit amongst a

Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2024 (paperback 2025) Why? I've been meaning to read Clare Chambers for a while, and I spotted this on...