European Equity book reviews of the year

Our European Equity team members look back at some books that piqued their interest in 2024.

“Such shameless bards we have; and yet ‘tis true
There are as mad abandon’d critics too.
The bookful blockhead ignorantly read,
With loads of learned lumber in his head,
With his own tongue still edifies his ears,
And always list’ning to himself appears.”
- Alexander Pope

It may seem self-indulgently meta to talk about the history of reviewing books in an annual book review. But there seems (one hopes) a kernel of truth in the idea that book reviewing is at best multi-faceted and diverse in its purpose, and at its worst an exercise in self-indulgence and hyperbole. Just read the back of any novel published in the last year, and the blurbs from authors and reviewers give the impression that works published today surpass all others, and are “life-changing”, “awe-inspiring”, and “astonishing”.

Since reading is inherently subjective, we shall give some leeway here. But book reviewing is intrinsically linked with the publishing industry, so puffery should be expected. Formalised book reviews appeared as we know them during the mid-eighteenth century, with The Monthly Review (1749-1844) and Critical Review (1756-1817) accompanying the sudden expansion of the London publishing scene and blossoming literacy of the population at large. Many of these publications were owned by booksellers and publishers.

The 19^th century saw politics influence literary reviews, with the Edinburgh Review becoming highly influential (Whig-leaning) and the Quarterly Review (Tory-leaning) similarly so. Many authors derided the resulting output as merely a byproduct of another industry; Edgar Allen Poe claimed criticism was a sham: “we place on paper without hesitation a tissue of flatteries, to which in society we could not give utterance, for our lives, without either blushing or laughing outright.”

Beyond the bastions of review that dominate today, such as The New York Review of Books, or The London Review of Books, technology is swiftly reshaping the modern critique and by some measures, the entire zeitgeist. BookTok – unsurprisingly a moniker for book reviews on TikTok – is influencing book sales globally. Books that are decades old suddenly experience boosts, The New York Times bestseller list has seen BookTok entrants, and some bookstores have implemented BookTok displays. Democratisation of literary criticism? Adulteration of what should be the sole remit of professionals? We humbly bow out of that particular debate. For us, we simply put forward a number of books that we as investors have found intriguing, informative or surprising and, in our constant search for improvement, hope may help us learn that tiny bit more about the world around us.

The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet

by Brett Christophers

In a comprehensive look at the renewables and energy sectors, Christophers offers one of the more succinct and compelling pieces of analysis. The infatuation with energy prices is misguided he claims; ‘a siren’. Instead, the focus should be on the returns that renewables can generate for investors, if the private sector is to help decarbonise power generation and transmission. With wind and solar prices having plummeted, the author is adept at drawing out the complex relationship between the state and private sector. Through numerous case studies – importantly in both developed and developing markets – he demonstrates, ultimately, that the state is the only actor with the financial and regulatory influence to reach the targets required to decarbonise our electricity. The private sector alone will fail, not because there is a dearth of capital (there isn’t) nor because the technology doesn’t exist at the right price (it does) but because the state de-facto controls the returns available to investors through the often very outdated electricity markets and planning regulations.

These last points are vital. It is only when you have a better handle on how electricity markets work can the reader appreciate what a steep hill renewables face in competition with fossil fuels. We remain far off the pace with regard to renewables and something needs to be done. The answer? According to the author, amplified state interventionism is no longer a desirable. It is a necessity. Following his detailed analysis and case studies, we are rather in agreement, as well as of the view that investing in pure-play renewables remains a challenging endeavour.

There is Nothing For You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century

by Fiona Hill

Fiona Hill’s life is undeniably a fascinating one. Brought up in poverty in the industrial wastelands of northern England, she rose to become an advisor to the White House on all things Russia during Donald Trump’s first term as President. Told with a disarmingly no-nonsense approach, but a keen eye for where the truth lies, the author uses her experience here to give a retelling of another well-trodden path.

The rise of populism and the perceived degradation of political stability in the West has often been explained by the hollowing out of old-economy industry, the concentration of wealth into ever narrowing sections of the population, and globalisation (both its impacts on manufacturing and immigration). Where the author excels is by drawing comparisons across the UK, US, and Russia (where she spent many years of her life during and post the collapse of the Soviet Union). The similarities are striking and, concerningly, the leap between early 90s Russia and the situation developing in the US appears even shorter, given the events of 2024. Hill’s suggestions to avoid these situations are admirable not only in their detail but also in what feels like a genuine desire to see left-behind sections of society catch up, rather than just paying lip service to social mobility.

The Money Trap: Grand Fortunes and Lost Illusions Inside the Tech Bubble

by Alok Sama

Ostensibly written as an autobiography, The Money Trap offers a rare vantage point from the heart of global venture capital, with the author having worked as Softbank's key dealmaker for several years. The book captures his unique perspectives on the storied firm, as well as the decision-making process of the much-written about, but still enigmatic, founder Masayoshi Son. He describes in detail the process behind some extremely successful acquisitions, like British chip designer Arm in 2016 and Nvidia (worth $3.5 trillion today), as well as disastrous ones, most famously WeWork, which he admits he found baffling. The WeWork deal was already controversial at the time, given Softbank paid tech multiples for what was in effect a real estate company, but the benefit of hindsight makes it look even more ill-advised, with this first-hand account serving as a warning for investors.

Reading about Softbank’s Vision Fund and other acquisitions today, with a backdrop of hundreds of billions being invested into as-yet-unprofitable AI start-ups, is chilling. While it is too early to know what the AI industry will look like in the future, Masayoshi Son was an early visionary in the space before it became a common part of our lexicon. Sama’s first-hand account underwrites this reputation: for example, he describes Masayoshi Son’s years of obsessive tracking of Arm and its role as a ‘crystal ball’ in showing what computing requirements different companies might have from the growth of the Internet of Things. We can learn from Softbank’s sophisticated insights in this and other deals in an ever-evolving sector, as early as a decade ago, for instruction on how to think about the potential of future technologies as well as from the mistakes they made, especially with regards to stretched valuations for ‘rare’, loss-making opportunities. The book is written in an engaging way, perhaps sometimes glamourising the world of finance a little bit beyond how this reader experiences it day to day.

Hard Landing: The Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines Into Chaos

by Thomas Petzinger

This book looks at the history of the US airlines industry, from the entrepreneurial days of bolting seats on cargo propeller planes in the 1920s, through the de-regulation era until the slightly more mature days of jet-planes and computerised management systems in the mid-90s.

The airlines industry is typically shunned by investors, with a reputation for being a sector with poor capital allocation, terrible cost control, and little to no pricing power. A lot of the stories in this book feed into that narrative very aptly, with enough chaos and toxic masculinity to – just about – fit inside a 737. It follows the truly wild stories of airlines as they fight tooth and nail with unions and each other, merge and conduct hostile takeovers, and then – with an air of inevitability – fly headfirst into bankruptcy. The household names that we still see in our skies today take a great deal of the focus, but there’s also a courteous glance at a couple of lost friends, like PanAm, along the way.

It gives a renewed appreciation for the complexity of scheduling hundreds of flights daily, across a network of different airports, but it also shows just how the industry was a Wild West for decades. As some of the fiercer characters fall by the wayside of bankruptcies and good old fashioned internal coups, we finish the book with a certain admiration for those airlines that have adapted to the rapidly changing environment in which they operate, as well as considering how the future of flight may impact the sector from an investment perspective.

Foster

by Claire Keegan

The setting is rural Ireland and a young girl is sent away to stay with relatives, the Kinsellas, while her mother gives birth to another child, an addition to an already full household. She does not know how long she will be there, in a world of ‘the price of sheep dip’ and hard work, where the farm gives little respite. Over the course of the rest of this remarkable novella, in an almost unnervingly linear journey, the reader is drawn into the rawness not only of a child who experiences her first truly caring moments, but also the very adult conflict of fearing an inevitable conclusion.

Claire Keegan’s use of language never fails to take the reader’s breath away. ‘Sparse’ seems the right descriptor, but it fails to convey the depth of meaning and lushness that her sentences impart. Perhaps it is because her writing is so light in touch, that when the unfiltered tragedy of the Kinsellas’ past is revealed, it feels like the world has shifted on its axis and you cannot help but yearn for their solace. Although there is melancholy that hangs in the background, there is also a levity and warmth that engages, often surprisingly so. Even if the final moments will be emotive to even the most resolute reader, perhaps the poignancy of the book is better epitomised by the moment that the young girl reaches for Mr Kinsella’s hand and realises that “my father has never once held my hand, and some part of me wants Kinsella to let me go so I won’t have to feel this. It’s a hard feeling but as we walk along I begin to settle and let the difference between my life at home and the one I have here be.”