Archive · 12 Sep 2026
Six New Nonfiction Books Explore History, Violence, Identity and Technology
Six new nonfiction books examine important stories about people and society.
One book tells the dramatic life of naval commander Thomas Cochrane.
Another explains how Pacific Islanders were coerced into working in Australia’s sugar fields.
Sherry Turkle writes that people may become attached to chatbots, even though machines cannot truly care.
Malcolm Gladwell asks why the United States experiences so much lethal violence.
Mahmoud Khalil describes his detention after protesting for Palestinian rights.
Neil Price shows that Vikings included many different kinds of people, not just raiders.
Together, the books explore history, politics, technology, violence and human identity.
Peter Moore profiles naval hero and political radical Thomas Cochrane, whose career included military victories, scandal and revolutionary campaigns.
Ryan Butta examines Australia’s blackbirding trade, which brought more than 60,000 Pacific Islanders to Queensland between 1860 and 1906.
Sherry Turkle argues that emotionally dependent relationships with AI chatbots can deepen loneliness rather than relieve it.
Malcolm Gladwell investigates why lethal violence in the United States differs from patterns in other developed countries.
Mahmoud Khalil recounts his detention and deportation threat while Neil Price reconstructs the diverse lives of Viking-Age communities.
- Who
- The six books are by Peter Moore, Ryan Butta, Sherry Turkle, Malcolm Gladwell, Mahmoud Khalil and Neil Price; they examine historical figures, communities and contemporary societies.
- What
- Publishers are presenting six new nonfiction titles about naval history, Australia’s blackbirding trade, AI relationships, American violence, Palestinian protest and Viking-Age life.
- When
- The titles are featured as September releases; the articles do not specify a year.
- Where
- The books range across Britain and its maritime history, Australia, the United States, Palestine, Gaza, Scandinavia and the wider Viking world.
- Why
- The books seek to recover overlooked histories, investigate major social problems and challenge familiar assumptions about technology, violence and the past.
- Number of titles
- Six
- Featured month
- September
- Blackbirding period
- 1860–1906
- Pacific Islanders transported to Australia
- More than 60,000
- Deaths linked to blackbirding conditions
- Nearly 15,000
- AI companionship statistic
- Nearly one-third of adults reportedly turn to AI programs for companionship
- Viking-era scope
- The book examines communities across a Scandinavian diaspora stretching from the eastern Steppe to Newfoundland