Book recommendation: The Web Beneath the Waves by Samanth Subramanian
Some time ago, I felt like I couldn't reach the full depth of my concentration anymore. I partly hold social media responsible for it. Ever since, I believe the only way to gain long-lasting knowledge is focusing on only one topic for a dedicated time. I want to share with you what I think are the best books to look into the future.
Read Books in 2026: 22
- All recommended books
- The Web Beneath the Waves: The Fragile Cables that Connect our World - Samanth Subramanian
- The Scaling Era: An Oral History of AI, 2019-2025 - Dwarkesh Patel, with Gavin Leech
Why you should read:
This book is about the undersea cables that carry almost all of the world's internet traffic - an infrastructure so incredibly important that hardly anyone ever thinks about it. Just as important is the geopolitical side: who builds these cables, who owns them, and who can tap or cut them. It also reminded me of the future infrastructure being developed right here in Europe: quantum encryption, built by zerothird around Rupert Ursin.
A fast read - just 128 pages - and worth every one of them.
Finished reading on October 18th, 2026.