{"title":"Matthew Longo","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"picnic-book-matthew-longo-9781847927798","title":"The Picnic","description":"*WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2024*  A gripping reconstruction of the daring escape to freedom of hundreds of East Germans in the summer of 1989 and how it led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.  'A pivotal – and exhilarating – moment in 20th century history. . . gripping' Observer 'Intensely moving' Sunday Times 'Engrossing and dramatic' William Boyd, New Statesman  In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists did the unthinkable: they entered the forbidden militarised zone of the Iron Curtain - and held a picnic. On wisps of rumour, thousands of East German 'holiday-makers' had made their way to the border, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The stage was set for the greatest border breach in Cold War history. 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'Evoke[s] the dramatic events in vivid colour . . . fascinating' Katja Hoyer, Telegraph *****  ‘Captivating . . . a vivid, fast-paced narrative’ New York Times  *SHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWN *A GUARDIAN BIGGEST FICTION AND NON-FICTION FOR 2024 *A WATERSTONES ‘BOOK YOU NEED TO READ IN 2024’ *A FOYLES TOP TEN READ FOR JANUARY 2024 *","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49675533582609,"sku":"GOR013508094","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49746177458449,"sku":"NGR9781847927798","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50126858944785,"sku":"GOR013864184","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50214603850001,"sku":"GOR013890383","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1847927793.jpg?v=1751314115"},{"product_id":"picnic-book-matthew-longo-9780393540772","title":"The Picnic","description":"In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists organised a picnic on the border of Hungary and Austria. But this was not an ordinary picnic—it was located on the dangerous militarised frontier known as the Iron Curtain. Tacit permission from the highest state authorities could be revoked at any moment. On wisps of rumour, thousands of East German “vacationers” packed Hungarian campgrounds, awaiting an opportunity, fearing prison, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents.   The Pan-European Picnic set the stage for the greatest border breach in Cold War history: hundreds crossed from the Communist East to the longed-for freedom of the West. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Soviet Union—the so-called end of history—all would flow from those dramatic hours. Drawing on exclusive interviews, Matthew Longo gives an invaluable account of historical change, and the disillusionment that followed, as emotionally powerful as it is revealing.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49923044016401,"sku":"CIN0393540774VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50104678547729,"sku":"CIN0393540774G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51002097664273,"sku":"NIN9780393540772","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51248483893521,"sku":"GOR014207407","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0393540774.jpg?v=1751260393"},{"product_id":"picnic-book-matthew-longo-9781847927804","title":"The Picnic","description":"*WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2024*  A gripping reconstruction of the daring escape to freedom of hundreds of East Germans in the summer of 1989 and how it led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.  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'Evoke[s] the dramatic events in vivid colour . . . fascinating' Katja Hoyer, Telegraph *****  ‘Captivating . . . a vivid, fast-paced narrative’ New York Times  *SHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWN *A GUARDIAN BIGGEST FICTION AND NON-FICTION FOR 2024 *A WATERSTONES ‘BOOK YOU NEED TO READ IN 2024’ *A FOYLES TOP TEN READ FOR JANUARY 2024 *","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50657473003793,"sku":"GOR014026069","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51327197577489,"sku":"GOR014227618","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1847927807.jpg?v=1751454229"},{"product_id":"politics-of-borders-book-matthew-longo-9781316622933","title":"The Politics of Borders","description":"Borders sit at the center of global politics. Yet they are too often understood as thin lines, as they appear on maps, rather than as political institutions in their own right. This book takes a detailed look at the evolution of border security in the United States after 9\/11. Far from the walls and fences that dominate the news, it reveals borders to be thick, multi-faceted and binational institutions that have evolved greatly in recent decades. The book contributes to debates within political science on sovereignty, citizenship, cosmopolitanism, human rights and global justice. In particular, the new politics of borders reveal a sovereignty that is not waning, but changing, expanding beyond the state carapace and engaging certain logics of empire.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50914235744529,"sku":"NGR9781316622933","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51023044968721,"sku":"NIN9781316622933","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52106240917777,"sku":"CIN1316622932G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52120783323409,"sku":"NLS9781316622933","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1316622932.jpg?v=1750755050"},{"product_id":"picnic-book-matthew-longo-9781324086321","title":"The Picnic","description":"In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists organized a picnic on the border of Hungary and Austria. 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Just a few months after the Picnic, the Berlin Wall fell, and the freedom for which the activists and refugees had abandoned their homes, risked imprisonment, sacrificed jobs, family, and friends, was suddenly available to everyone. But were they really free? And why, three decades since the Iron Curtain was torn down, have so many sought once again to build walls?   Cinematically told, The Picnic recovers a time when it seemed possible for the world to change. With insight and panache, Longo explores the opportunities taken—and the opportunities we failed to take—in that pivotal moment.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51023084355857,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51023087075601,"sku":"NIN9781324086321","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53481694265617,"sku":"CIN1324086327VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1324086327.jpg?v=1751050401"},{"product_id":"picnic-book-matthew-longo-9781529920987","title":"The Picnic","description":"A gripping reconstruction of the daring escape to freedom of hundreds of East Germans in the summer of 1989 - and how it led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.  ‘Beautifully written . . . The Picnic reads like a thriller’ Peter Frankopan 'Exhilarating' Observer 'Intensely moving' Sunday Times 'Engrossing and dramatic' William Boyd  In August 1989, a group of activists did the unthinkable: they entered the forbidden militarised zone of the Iron Curtain - and held a picnic. On wisps of rumour, thousands of East German 'holiday-makers' had made their way to the border, surveilled by lurking Stasi agents. The stage was set for the greatest border breach in Cold War history. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Soviet Union - the so-called end of history - all would flow from what happened next. 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It is, Immanuel Kant said, \"the visible part of the brain.\" It is the invisible that concerns Matthew Longo in \u003ci\u003eThe Invisible Hand\u003c\/i\u003e, a wide-ranging, deftly written account of the neural and cognitive mechanisms that have made a seemingly ordinary physical appendage an extraordinary tool in the evolution of humanity.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The hand has been the focus of an enormous amount of research from a dizzying range of disciplines, from anatomy, psychology, and neuroscience to evolutionary biology and archaeology. With the concept of the invisible hand, Longo integrates and contextualizes the findings from these disparate fields to show how the neurocognitive mechanisms that comprise the invisible hand are central to understanding a wide array of phenomena, including basic sensory and motor function, space perception, gesture, and even the self. More generally, he contends that the extraordinary abilities of the hand arise precisely from the complementary nature and tight integration of the visible and invisible hands-a proposition that leads deep into topics as diverse as haptics, tool use, handedness, phantom limbs, and evolution. 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