Generally interesting/useful things:

‘In Our Time’ BBC Radio 4 archive (thousands of episodes on a specific theme each week, dating back to 1998) Search by topic or genre: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2Dw1c7rxs6DmyK0pMRwpMq1/archive

‘Thinking Allowed’ BBC Radio 4 archive (over 600 episodes on a whole range of diverse topics) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qy05/episodes/player?page=1

How to read academic texts and take notes, A guide from the University of Reading https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/reading/reading

Pre-enrolment reading lists from the University of Roehampton (covers multiple subject areas) https://roehampton.rl.talis.com/units/pre2019.html

Pre-enrolment reading lists from King’s College, Cambridge (covers multiple subject areas) https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/reading-lists

The basics of cooking as a student or on a budget: http://www.studentcook.co.uk/cookingbasicscategory.html

Cooking on a budget: https://cookingonabootstrap.com

Financial advice (covers more or less everything you would ever need to know very clearly) https://www.moneysavingexpert.com

Essential guide to first aid: https://www.firstaid.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Daily-Record-St-Andrews-First- Aid-First-Aid-Guide.compressed.pdf

Subjects

History General History:

In Defence of History - R. Evans – this, and the book below are absolute classics What is History? - E.H. Carr The Idea of History - R. Collingwood The Interpretation of Cultures - C. Geertz Specific topics (read whatever you are going to be studying which you can check on your universities website). Examples include:

Madness and Civilisation - M Foucault The men who ruled Indian - P Woodruff The Making of the English Working Class - E.P. Thompson Industry and Empire - E. J. Hobsbawm The Age of Revolution - E. J. Hobsbawm In fact basically anything by Eric Hobsbawn! Women and Power - M. Beard A Distant Mirror - B. Tuchman Post War - Tony Judt The Silk Roads - P. Frankopan

Politics: In Defence of Politics - Bernard Crick (an absolute classic, social democracy, political analysis) The Age of Consent - George Monbiot (left wing/social justice/global politics) The Establishment - Owen Jones (left wing/class system/British politics) The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand (a novel/right wing/individualism/personal autonomy) Alan Clark Diaries or Tony Benn Diaries - (both give fascinating insights in very different ways to the British Political machine) Dreams of my Father/Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama - (Dreams of my Father is especially wonderful) Stupid White Men - Michael Moore (the huge success of this book wasn’t without justification, it is funny and surprisingly insightful, if a little liberal with the facts at times)

Political classics: The Republic - Plato (both this and the Politics are tough going, but useful for bridging the gap between politics and philosophy. Often best to read Ancient Philosophy with alongside a modern study guide, for these two texts there are loads available, e.g. An Introduction to Plato’s Republic by Julia Annas) Politics - Aristotle (far fewer undertones of Nazism than the Republic!)The Social Contract - Rousseau (Individual Freedom, arguably Authoritarianism) Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes (absolute classic, crazy conclusions) On Liberty - John Stuart Mill (personal autonomy, freedom of speech, surprisingly modern feeling) Rights of Man - Thomas Paine (democracy and egalitarianism) The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith (political economics/ The Enlightenment) The Communist Manifesto - Marx (Socialism)

Would also recommend some introductory type of texts, obviously the one Oxford recommended themselves would be a sensible start, but also:

Political Thinkers: From Socrates to the Present - David Boucher and Paul Kelly (very comprehensive) An Introduction to Political Philosophy - Jonathan Wolff (very solid intro, a classic ‘PPEist’ pre-reading kind of book)

Philosophy:

Belief in God: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, T. J. Mawson (If you like this he also has 2 other books, both of which I’d recommend, especially Free Will: A guide for the Perplexed) Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy, S. Blackburn Sophie’s World, J. Gaarder (a novel, good for a beach reader, but surprisingly insightful and a modern classic) Invitation to Philosophy, M. Hollis (a classic introductory text for first year uni students) The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, T. Honderich (as above) History of Western Philosophy, B. Russell (the classic of Philosophy) Language, Truth and Logic, A.J. Ayer What Does it All Mean?,T, Nagel Meno, Plato Paradoxes, R M Sainsbury Being Good, Simon Blackburn Meditations, Rene Descartes Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, D. Hume On Liberty, J. S. Mill Aristotle the Philosopher, J L Ackrill

English:

Read as much, as with as much variety as you can. Check your university for your first year set texts, read them and read contextually around them. For example, do you need to be reading Early Medieval Literature or Victorian, or both?

This is an example from King’s College London: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/english/modules/level4/prelim-reading-1718.pdf

This is an example from Balliol College,Oxford: https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/english-reading-list

Also, Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, P Barry is a good introduction text

Geography:

The Dictionary of Human Geography, D. Gregory The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, The Lost Hero of Science, A Wulf The Shock of the Anthropocene, C Bonneuil, JB Fressoz Factfullness, H Rosling

More recommendations here: https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/reading- lists/geography-reading-list

Law:

Letters to a Law Student – N. J. McBride What about Law? - C. Barnard The Rule of Law - T. Bingham Eve Was Framed - H. Kennedy The Secret Barrister - The Secret Barrister

Psychology:

Cognitive psychology: a student’s handbook, MW Eyseneck and M T Keane Essentials of social psychology, M A Hogg and GM Vaughan Atkinson and Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology, S B Nolen-Hoeksema, S B Fredrickson Key concepts in developmental Psychology, HR Schaffer Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind, MS Gazzaniga, RB Ivry, GR Mangun

Sciences:

Biology:

Molecular Biology of the Cell, B. Alberts Biochemistry, JM Berg An Introduction to Genetic Analysis, AJF Griffith On the Origin of Species, C Darwin

Chemistry:

Molecules, PW Atkins Why Chemical Reactions Happen, J Keeler, P Wothers ChemNRICH Website

Computer Science

The New Turing Omnibus, A Kee Dewdney The Pleasure of Counting, TW Korner

Earth Sciences

Exploring the Earth, J Davidson On The Rocks: East Science for everyone, JS Dickney Life on a Young Planet, AH Knou A Short History of Planet Earth, JD MacDougall New Views on an Old Planet, TJH Van Andel

Evolution and Behaviour:

Through our Eyes Only?, MS Dawkins The Blind Watchmaker, R Dawkins The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee, K Diamond In the Blood, S Jones The Symbolic Planet, L Margulis

Material Science:

Navigating the Material World, C Baillie and L Vanasupa New Science of Strong Materials, JE Gordon Electronic Materials, Braithwaite and Weaver Materials and Design, MF Ashby and K Johnson

Physics:

The Character of Physical Law, R. Feyman The Quantum Universe, T Hey, P Walters The Flying Circus of Physics, J Walker A Short History of Nearly Everythig, B Bryson Coming of Age in the Milky Way, T Ferris Why E=mc2? B Cox and J Forshaw

Physiology:

Reaching for the Sun, J King What Geese don’t get obese (and we do), EP Widmaier Diatoms to Dinosaurs, C McGowan Energy, Pants and Man, D Walker

Mathematics:

New Applications of Mathematics, C Bondi Foundations of Science Mathematics, DS Sivia, SG Rawlings To Infinite and Beyond, E Maor Godel, Escher and Bach, D Hofstadter The New Scientist Guide to Chaos, N Hall

Sociology:

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, E Goffman Sociology: Making Sense of Society, S Punch, J Harden, I Marsh, M Keating Introducing Social Theory, P Jones, L Bradbury, S Le Boutillier