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What are you favourite political books? (self.britishbooks)

submitted 1 year ago by Oneeightnine to c/britishbooks

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I'll kick us off with a few of my favourites.

Things Can Only Get Worse? - John O' Farrell

The story of twenty confusing years as a member of the Labour party. From the pre-Blair years through to the Corbyn. An absolutely fascinating read for someone like me who's both a member of the party and someone who's interested in leftist politics and British political history.

The Social Distance Between Us - Darren Mcgarvey

Great read if you're looking to get angry about the state of the UK. Doesn't pull any punches and isn't afraid to get it's hands dirty.

Impeachment - Jon Meacham

I'm really into US Presidential history. This book covers the Johnson, Nixon and Clinton impeachments, and explains why they were bought, the narrative around the cases and why they reached the conclusion they did. This is genuinely one of my favourite books going.

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[–] HipPriest@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The End Of The Party - Andrew Rawnsley Was a great dissection of the post-9/11 New Labour era up to the Coalition. Very readable and obviously covers Iraq and the related controversies, but also the Blair/Brown relationship and its overall draining effect on what had previously been one of the most popular governments in modern times.

The passage that sticks with me is when even Dubya questions why Blair is sticking with him joining in the war, effectively giving him an out, and Blair says he's in with this war all the way.

[–] Oneeightnine 1 points 1 year ago

Definitely be adding this one to my list. Thanks for the rec.

[–] Emperor 1 points 1 year ago

I'm going for a double feature but these are just the quick ones off the top of my head, I'll have a ponder on others.

1984 and Animal Farm - George Orwell

I recommend them to everyone as they both have important lessons which always seem relevant (the former especially).

No Logo and Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein

Incredibly ahead of their time and I often think about them.

Chavs and The Establishment by Owen Jones

Probably not telling a lot of people here things they don't know but they are a good basic primer for what has gone wrong in this country.

[–] UKFilmNerd 1 points 1 year ago

I'm not very good with political books. I tried reading one about Donald Trump but I became bored of it. I think it was the way in which the book was written didn't agree with me.

The only other one I recall is A Decade In Tory which is really interesting because they've fucked everything up over the last thirteen years and that's why I had to stop reading, it was too depressing. They ruin everything they touch!