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Must-have political books
Read more about: Academia, Democracy, Irish Politics 
In recent months I’ve found myself craving some solid political reading of some description. In the last few years, the only overtly political books I’ve ventured into have been the type of pop-politics favoured by Michael Moore and others but now I want something broader, deeper and different. I figure with all of the politically-minded eyes that fall across this website, it’d be the perfect place to put out a request that will benefit me and, hopefully, others too.
I’m looking for recommendations from you for good, worthwhile political books. It can be about a specific event or it can be generalised political theory. It can be a biography or an account. It can be modern or historical. It can be Irish or international and it can be complex or simplified. What I’m not looking for is the soap-box brand of political literature by people like Moore, Chomsky, &c.; not to suggest they’re not worth reading, it’s just that I’m not exactly looking to be given one side of an argument, but rather I’m looking to better understand the wider political landscape in order to grow my own intellectual boundaries and come to a better understanding. I guess I’m really looking for the whys and hows of it all.
I don’t think the books have to be completely political either as economic and cultural books can often give a person a better understanding of the political climate and the nature of that very public industry.
So many thanks for your suggestions; they’ll all be going on my Christmas list!
(This is all connected to my personal quest for complete world knowledge; thoughts on that request are also greatly welcome).
I too have become something of a political-read junkie in recent months…must be something going around. I would heartily recommend “Breaking the Mould” by Stephen Collins, which delves into the history of the PDs, including their foundation, ideology, personalities, the 3 Coalition’s with Fianna Fail, the collapse of the Reynolds-O’Malley govt, Opposition, Civil Wars, losses and triumphs. A bloody good read!
I’d recommend Milovan Djilas’s examination of the aftermaths of the communist revolution in Yugoslavia – The New Class.
Ireland 1916-1985
Joe Lee
Terror and liberalism http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Liberalism-Paul-Berman/dp/0393325555/sr=8-1/qid=1164666024/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5344819-4714455?ie=UTF8&s=books
and why Ireland was so poor for so longhttp://www.amazon.com/Preventing-Future-Ireland-Poor-Long/dp/0717137716/sr=8-1/qid=1164666057/ref=sr_1_1/002-5344819-4714455?ie=UTF8&s=books
Europe: A History (Norman Davis) – it’s long, but it’s well worth the read, even if you only dip in now and again
Beyond Fear (Bruce Schneier) – not technically a politics book, but you’ll understand a hell of a lot more about the politics of fear if you read it; worth the read in its own regard as a security book too
Setting the People Free: The Story of Democracy (John Dunn) – a history of the word and the system of democracy
Here’s a couple of recommended books:
The Art of the Impossible: Politics as Morality in Practice by Vaclav Havel, brings together 35 of his speeches and his view of thoughtful postmoderm humanism. It highlights that even the most hopeless looking situations can be changed for the better
Citizen Cyborg by James Hughes, establishes the idea of cognitive liberty which is the freedom to choose your state of mind, it doesn’t stop there and takes a social democratic approach to a whole raft of questions which now arise as technology offers the opportunities for use to resculpt and modify our minds and bodies. To quote Cory Doctrow, “The humanist transhuman is a political stance I’d never imagined, but having read ‘Citizen Cyborg,’ it seems obvious and natural.” – Full book review
Murder in Samarkand – A British Ambassador’s Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror by Craig Murray, in his memoir he opens the dark can of worms on how the UK really works in the War on Terror by focusing in on his term as Ambassador of Uzbekistan and highlights how Realpolitik can overlook such things as cotton slavery and brutal torture by a ‘friendly’ regime.
Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century by Alex Steffen, Al Gore (Foreword), Bruce Sterling (Introduction) and more. The people at the worldchaning blog which has been passing information about sustainability, social change, new technologies and pragmatically suggesting solutions to some of the global and local issues affecting people have produced this book. It the best compendium of ideas I’ve ever come across and needs a place on your bookshelf.
Hey Keith, I read The Story of Democracy a couple of months back and it completely informed my thoughts on the political system.
I’d also recommend Simon’s choice: Preventing the Future. Plenty on Lemass, and I notice Michael Taft in Notes from the Front making similar ones.
On the issue of terrorism, I enjoyed Dining with Terrorists by Phil Rees. It’s main point, that terrorism is now a politically loaded word (yesterdays freedom fighters are todays terrorists) was brought home in the documentary ’635 ways to kill Castro’ that aired last night on C4. Bush said that if you harbour terrorists, you are a terrorist. Yet those responsible for blowing up a passenger plane flying to Cuba have been given residency in the US (authorised by Jeb) to live out the rest of their lives in the ex-pat Cuban community in Miami.
Another recommendation would be Tony Judt’s Postwar. More history than politics, I suppose, but deeply informative and interesting throughout – not that I’ve read it all, mind.
Adam et al, I agree with all latter except Stephen Collins, whose objectivity I find questionable. In the Irish sense, Simon I agree that Joe Lee is good. In a wider, more-modern-wider arena. I find analyses stuff by the marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm & Naomi Klein’s globalisation writings excellent. No Logo, by the latter is worth a read.
It really is damn difficult when accessing modern political works to sort out wheat from chaff & thers a lot of chaff around.
I shall follow this thread with interest.
Indeed, Mgt, a recent “Pillars of Society” article in Phoenix seemed to suggest that Collins was suited to Geraldine Kennedy’s political ideology (she being a former PD) and the blurb on the back of the book seems very fawnish (talking about how powerful the PD’s are etc… there’s no doubt they punch above their weight, but it almost paints them as saviours of Ireland, which I wouldn’t agree with).
That said I’m interested to read the history of the PD’s, as it’s an interesting one all the same, and my rule of thumb with stuff like this is I don’t mind reading something that might be bias as long as I’m aware of the potential bias that’s inherent in it.
In Defense of Politics by Bernard Crick. This book first appeared as a slim volume in 1962 and has been updated numerous times since. It is the most most lucid exposition of what politics actually is, i.e a process that attempts to resolve conflict and different interests in complex societies.
Adam,
On Irish politics specifically, I’d recommend James Downey’s “Lenihan His Life and Loyalties” (1998) as a high quality and informed insight into many key development in Irish life over the past fifty years. On fianna Fáil history and especialll y strong on the Arms Crisis and Haughey, Dick Walsh’s 1986 book “The Party” is worth a read. Tim Pat Coogan’s “de Valera” is also worth trawling through if you’re not too put off by the amount of anecdote and detail he thrives on. And lastly, one I still find a useful reference is Bew, Hazelkorn and Patterson’s “The Dynamics of irish Politics” (1989).
While not quite what you might be looking for, I recommend getting The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Green. Here‘s a list and overview of the laws.
Well worth a read is “Party Time: Growing up in Politics”, Mercier Press 2006, Johnny Fallon. Gives a good insight into the FF psyche on the ground and the life of political volunteer