'Michael Lewis has a peerless, uncanny gift for finding the human frontlines of the most abstract and complex stories… He routinely populates these battlefields with unlikely heroes from real life… This new book is a straight war report’ – Tim Adams, Observer

'The “blockers” are the dedicated officials who try to stop the wanton and often illegal destruction of their life’s work by Elon Musk’s Doge or other agents of chaos… there are few better suited to telling this story than Michael Lewis, one of the world’s bestselling nonfiction writers’ – Sam Freedman, Guardian

A wild ride through the destruction of the American government – and the unsung heroes who tried to stop it – by the No. 1 bestselling author of The Big Short

In early 2025, an army of young men invaded the offices of US government. Armed with laptops and sleeping bags, a raft of prejudices and a bulletproof sense of mission instilled in them by their new boss, Elon Musk, the tech bro acolytes of DOGE were on a mission to seek and destroy, by any means necessary. But once inside, they came up against a group of people whose courage, commitment and in some cases lifelong devotion to the nation they served would quickly earn them the wrath of Musk. He called them Blockers. Find the Blockers, Musk told his band of worshipful young men – and eliminate them.

Blockers is the story of the unsung heroes at the heart of the most complex and powerful machine ever designed by humankind, who fought back when DOGE, and then even darker forces, wanted to smash it all up. One kept Americans’ most sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands, another made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules. One figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighbourhoods, another delivered the cure to cystic fibrosis. There was also a security guard.

This is a thriller about unlikely rebels and power-drunk villains. It is also a cautionary tale that asks, what do we do when the idea of public service becomes worthless? When the things we didn’t even realise we were taking for granted suddenly no longer exist. When we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone.

Bushido is the chivalric code of moral principles that the Samurai followed: rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honour and loyalty. Beautifully produced in traditional Chinese binding, Bushido: The Soul of Japan will appeal to anyone interested in leadership, the code of the Samurai and Japanese culture.

“Chivalry is a flower no less indigenous to the soil of Japan than cherry blossom” are the opening words to Inazo Nitobe’s Bushido: The Soul of Japan. It was 1900 and Inazo, a Japanese academic living in the USA, had been prompted to write the book after an American professor had wondered how the Japanese imparted moral education on their children if schools didn’t offer any religious instruction. The answer, Inazo realised, was through Bushido. Bushido is the chivalric code of moral principles that the Samurai followed: rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honour and loyalty. Influenced by Confucianism, Shinto and Zen Buddhism, it tempers the violence of a warrior with wisdom and serenity. Alongside Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and Machiavelli’s The Prince, Inazo’s book has become influential among military and corporate leaders looking for ways to manage their people and overcome their opponents. Beautifully produced in traditional Chinese binding and with a timeless design, Bushido: The Soul of Japan includes the classic Inazo text with a new introduction. It will appeal to anyone interested in leadership, the code of the Samurai and Japanese culture.