Academy of Ideas books and gifts: grab some big ideas for Christmas!
We've got a great selection of books and merchandise for sale – not forgetting our brilliant Letters on Liberty pamphlets.
Christmas is great fun – but coming up with good presents for your nearest and dearest can be a pain. An excellent solution is to give the gift of ideas in the shape of a really good book – and the Academy of Ideas bookshop has some cracking reads from our recent Battle of Ideas festival speaker. There’s a great range, from prison reform to nuclear power, from free speech to the new world order.
We also have our Letters on Liberty pamphlets – big ideas in small packages – which make for thought-provoking stocking fillers. And if you want to declare your love of ideas, why not grab a Battle of Ideas tote bag?
I would particularly like to recommend our Letters of Liberty. In an era when the case for freedom is so often smothered, they are designed as an antidote to today’s censorious climate. Inspired by the tradition of radical pamphlets from the seventeenth century onwards – designed to be argued over in the pub as much as parliament – Letters on Liberty promise to make readers think twice.
We can’t simply rely on the thinkers of the past to work out what liberty means today, and how to argue for it. These short but substantive reads aim to be the basis for passionate but good-natured disagreement. The authors are asked to experiment with what freedom might mean today on a wide variety of contemporary issues and how we can create a freer society in the here and now.
These pamphlets are each beautifully illustrated by artist Jan Bowman, and skillfully edited by our own Ella Whelan. We now have 45 to choose from. Every bundle of three will be packaged up in lovely Battle of Ideas ribbon, all ready for you to pop into Santa’s sack or as a lovely addition to your Xmas cards. Each bundle of three costs £5.
Don’t forget that this is a great time to be planning ahead for 2026 – and what better to look forward to than the Battle of Ideas festival? Early-bird tickets are now available from our festival tickets page.
Happy Christmas shopping. Hopefully we can solve some of those gift headaches – and enjoy the festive season!