4th Estate Books

Big Data is used to spy on us, hire and fire us, and sell us things we don't need. In ‘Dataclysm’, Christian Rudder, founder of one of the world’s biggest dating websites OkCupid, puts this flood of information to an entirely different use: understanding human nature. Drawing on terabytes of data from Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, OkCupid, and many other sites, Rudder examines the terrain of human experience to answer a range of questions: Does it matter where you went to school? How racist are we? How do political views alter relationships? Philosophers, psychologists, gene hunters and neuroscientists have tried to explain our flaws and foibles. Rudder shows that in today's era of social media, a powerful new approach is possible, one that reveals how we actually behave when we think no one's looking.

"When Stephen King calls your trilogy creepy and fascinating, you know you're onto a winner". Tom Killingbeck and Tara Al Azzawi from 4th Estate speak to Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach Trilogy.

While it may not be seasonally appropriate, The Snow Queen is sublimely beautiful, desperately poignant and highly deserving of a spot on your summer read list. Michael Cunningham was kind enough to submit to our questioning when he was last in London - click below to hear the interview.

4th Estate interviews Jeremy Herrin, director of the RSC adapted 'Wolf Hall' and 'Bring Up The Bodies' by Dame Hilary Mantel.

4th Estate talks to Andy Miller about the fifty great books that saved his life, from 'Anna Karenina' to 'The Da Vinci Code' by way of 'Moby Dick'. Interview by Morwenna Loughman For more from Andy Miller: Website: http://mill-i-am.com Twitter: @i_am_mill_i_am For more from 4th Estate: Twitter: @4thEstateBooks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4thEstateBooks Website: http://www.4thestate.co.uk/

An exclusive interview with Laline Paull - debut author of 'The Bees', a brilliantly imagined cross between 'The Handmaid's Tale' and 'The Hunger Games'. Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen. But Flora is not like other bees. Despite her ugliness she has talents that are not typical of her kin. While mutant bees are usually instantly destroyed, Flora is removed from sanitation duty and is allowed to feed the newborns, before becoming a forager, collecting pollen on the wing. She also finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where she discovers secrets both sublime and ominous. But enemies are everywhere, from the fearsome fertility police to the high priestesses who jealously guard the Hive Mind. And when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all her instinct to serve is overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce l