A strangely Unitarian-in-all-but-name book series: The Big Idea: Primers for the 21st Century is worth seeking out for anyone trying to get their head around the issues of our time. With titles like Is Democracy Failing?, Is Gender Fluid?, and Can We Save the Planet?, one might be excused thinking someone had developed a series of books specifically directed at Unitarian Universalist concerns in the 21st century. The series is published by Thames and Hudson, Thames & Hudson | Beautiful illustrated books (thamesandhudson.com) a London press. Currently they have published 12 of these incredibly informative and well-researched books to date. Each volume posits a question for our times, and explores historical context, current viewpoints, and potential answers, all in a short, exhaustively illustrated volume that uses text size to indicate and direct the reader according to time and need. If you just want the broad strokes of a topic, you can just read the largest font to get broad stokes, with increasing levels of detail as font size decreases (about 5 font sizes in all.)
While varying font sizes may seem like an odd idea for a book, it’s one that works surprisingly well. In addition to the main text, key concepts are defined in the margins, and illustrations are well-identified and explained. Speaking for myself, the scope and complexity of issues that are facing the world today often seem difficult to understand and keep up with, and I find this series to be a good place to get a snapshot of things from a progressive lens, whether or not I knew anything about the subject in the first place. The books are suitable for older teens and adults, as the subjects and content for the most part are too mature for younger children and youth.