Happy World Book Day.
To celebrate the 2026 edition, Global Trade Today spoke to members of the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade’s editorial and public affairs teams to get their recommendations on the best trade fiction and non-fiction.
Why Politicians Lie About Trade by Dmitry Grozoubinski
A favourite of many policy wonks and trade experts, Grozoubinski bridges the gap between detail and humour when talking about the realities of shipping goods and services across borders in the modern era.
As an experienced negotiator and communicator, Grozoubinski looks at all aspects of practice and theory, and deals with some of the misconceptions – possibly even lies – that regularly feature in the headlines on international trade.
A highly readable book, written by a man who has been in the room and heard one-too-many lines about “transformative” trade deals.
Made in Manchester by Brian Groom and Andy Burnham
Trade and manufacturing can take a somewhat national approach in many discussions, while ‘regionalism’ is sometimes ignored.
Journalist Groom and politician Burnham collaborate on a history of one of the UK’s most important trading cities, covering the political, historical and economic life of Manchester.
One of the centres of the industrial revolution, Manchester subsequently transformed into a cultural and sporting powerhouse, with services exports including Anthony Burgess, Oasis, Manchester United and Manchester City.
To understand how we can move beyond a London and South East England-centric economy, it is vital to understand how the rest of the UK’s nations and regions can contribute.
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan
A classic account of the last 2,500 years of history told using trade and with the East-West relationship firmly at the centre of the story.
Using the famous Silk Road trade route as a core theme, Frankopan covers historic events like the fall of empires, the arrival of the Black Death in Europe and the rise of fascism from an economic and global perspective.
Widely regarded as a classic of history and an economics, the book has been in print ever since its first publication in 2015 and remains an immensely readable account.
Chokepoints by Edward Fishman
Written by a top former diplomat, Chokepoints tells the gripping story of how economic trade tools are now increasingly being used as a means of changing geopolitics.
Sanctions, export controls and critical mineral supply chains have now become the primary tools of geopolitics, according to Fishman. As a high-ranking US state department official under presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Fishman had a first-hand view of how sanctions work and the backroom political wheeling and dealing that comes with them.
As the Middle East war continues to rage over World Book Day this year, Chokepoints is a timely account of the tools used to reshape the global economy.
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall
Marshall shows how geography shapes trade but also how trade shapes geography in his now-famous book on geopolitics and cartography.
Too often, trade is thought of in basic, almost conceptual, terms but we often forget that where we are situated shapes everything. In many ways, the US won the lottery of natural resources with access to both major oceans.
Marshall says that events like the Russian invasion of Ukraine were partly motivated by Russia’s desire to access freshwater ports in Odessa.
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
The only fiction book to make the list, Invisible Cities is a great example of the renowned magical realism of the short-story writer and novelist Italo Calvino.
Released in 1972 towards the end of Calvino’s life, the book is framed as a discussion between the explorer and trader Marco Polo and the Chinese emperor Kublai Khan, deconstructing Polo’s famous 13th century travel book.
Nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1975, Invisible Cities is something a little bit different for those of us looking for trade books on World Book Day.
One to keep an eye on: How to Win a Trade War by Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown
Keynes, an FT economics columnist, and Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, collaborate on this guide to international trade in the modern era.
From Brexit to critical minerals to the global tariff war, it is pitched as “timely, funny and informative” by publishers Pan Macmillan.
The book is due for release on 28 May and is set to look at the demise of the current system of international trade and what comes next in this new area for politics and economics.
Since it hasn’t been published yet, Global Trade Today can’t yet say if we recommend it, but it’s one we’re certainly looking forward to getting our teeth into.
Member exclusive
