Political Science & Ideology
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The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union
BY THE AUTHOR OF CHERNOBYL: HISTORY OF A TRAGEDY, WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2018WINNER OF THE PUSHKIN HOUSE RUSSIAN BOOK PRIZE 2015
On Christmas Day 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union. By the next day the USSR was officially no more and the USA had emerged as the world’s sole superpower. Award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy presents a page-turning account of the preceding five months of drama, filled with failed coups d’état and political intrigue.
Honing in on this previously disregarded but crucial period and using recently declassified documents and original interviews with key participants, he shatters the established myths of 1991 and presents a bold new interpretation of the Soviet Union’s final months. Plokhy argues that contrary to the triumphalist Western narrative, George H. W. Bush desperately wanted to preserve the Soviet Union and keep Gorbachev in power, and that it was Ukraine and not the US that played the key role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. The consequences of those five months and the myth-making that has since surrounded them are still being felt in Crimea, Russia, the US, and Europe today.
With its spellbinding narrative and strikingly fresh perspective, The Last Empire is the essential account of one of the most important watershed periods in world history, and is indispensable reading for anyone seeking to make sense of international politics today.
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Out of Our Minds: What We Think and How We Came to Think It
‘Immensely learned and ambitious…seam-bursting eclecticism and polymathic brio… This is by any standards a significant book and its author deserves high praise.’Literary Review
To imagine – to see that which is not there – is the startling ability that has fuelled human development and innovation through the centuries. As a species we stand alone in our remarkable capacity to refashion the world after the pictures in our minds.
Traversing the realms of science, politics, religion, culture, philosophy and history, Felipe Fernández-Armesto reveals the thrilling and disquieting tales of our imaginative leaps. Through groundbreaking insights in cognitive science, he explores how and why we have ideas in the first place, providing a tantalising glimpse into who we are and what we might yet accomplish. Fernández-Armesto shows that bad ideas are often more influential than good ones; that the oldest recoverable thoughts include some of the best; that ideas of Western origin often issued from exchanges with the wider world; and that the pace of innovative thinking is under threat.
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Billionaire Raj: SHORTLISTED FOR THE FT & MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2018
SHORTLISTED FOR THE FT & MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2018A Financial Times Book of the Year and an Amazon Top 100 Book of the Year
India’s explosive rise has driven inequality to new extremes, with millions trapped in slums as billionaires spend lavishly and dodge taxes. Controversial prime minister Narendra Modi promised ‘to break the grip’ of the Bollygarchs, but many tycoons continue to thrive amidst the scandals, exerting huge influence over business and politics.
But who are these titans of politics and industry shaping India through this period of breakneck change? And what kind of superpower are they creating?
A vivid portrait of a deeply divided nation, The Billionaire Raj makes clear that India’s destiny – prosperous democratic giant or corrupt authoritarian regime – is something that should concern us all.
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A Village in the Third Reich: How Ordinary Lives Were Transformed By the Rise of Fascism – from the author of Sunday Times bestseller Travellers in the Third Reich
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A Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2022
A New Statesman Book of the Year 2022
‘Fascinating… You’ll learn more about the psychological workings of Nazism by reading this superbly researched chronicle… than you will by reading a shelf of wider-canvas volumes on the rise of Nazism.’Daily Mail
‘An utterly absorbing insight into the full spectrum of responses from ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.’The Times
‘Boyd is an outstanding micro-historian.’iNews
___________Hidden deep in the Bavarian mountains lies the picturesque village of Oberstdorf – a place where for hundreds of years people lived simple lives while history was made elsewhere.
Yet even this remote idyll could not escape the brutal iron grip of the Nazi regime.
From the author of the
Sunday Times bestselling
Travellers in the Third Reich comes
A Village in the Third Reich: an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Germany under Hitler, shining a light on the lives of ordinary people. Drawing on personal archives, letters, interviews and memoirs, it lays bare their brutality and love; courage and weakness; action, apathy and grief; hope, pain, joy and despair.Within its pages we encounter people from all walks of life – foresters, priests, farmers and nuns; innkeepers, Nazi officials, veterans and party members; village councillors, mountaineers, socialists, slave labourers, schoolchildren, tourists and aristocrats. We meet the Jews who survived – and those who didn’t; the Nazi mayor who tried to shield those persecuted by the regime; and a blind boy whose life was judged ‘not worth living’.
This is a tale of conflicting loyalties and desires, of shattered dreams – but one in which, ultimately, human resilience triumphs.
These are the stories of ordinary lives at the crossroads of history.
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‘Exceptional… Boyd’s book reminds us that even the most brutal regimes cannot extinguish all semblance of human feeling’Mail on Sunday
‘Masterly… [an] important and gripping book… [Boyd is] a leading historian of human responses in political extremis.’The Oldie
‘Gripping… vividly depicted… [a] humane and richly detailed book’ Spectator
‘Vivid, moving stories leave us asking “What would I have done?”‘ Professor David Reynolds, author of
Island Stories
“An absorbing, thoroughly recommended read”Family Tree magazine‘Laying bare the tragedies, the compromises, the suffering and the disillusionment. Exemplary microhistory.’ Roger Moorehouse, author of
First to Fight
‘Compelling and evocative’All About History
‘The rise of Nazi Germany through the prism of one small village in Bavaria. […] Astonishing’ Jane Garvey on
Fortunately… with Fi and Jane
‘incredibly engaging’History of War magazine‘Intensely detailed, exhaustively researched and rendered in almost cinematographic detail, Julia Boyd’s A Village In The Third Reich is deeply evocative, redolent of those times and truly revelatory. I learned so much. This is a book I will need to return to again and again, to relearn, refresh and remember. A triumph.’ Damien Lewis, author of
The Flame of ResistanceRead more
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Politics, But Better: An A – Z Guide to Creating a More Hopeful Future
From the founder of Simple Politics comes a guide to rediscovering the heart of our democracy, reshaping our political system and making the UK a better place for all.
Strikes across the country. A prime minister resigning after just forty-four days. Accusations of bullying in the House of Commons. Our politics and our democracy appear to be fundamentally broken.
But that doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. Things can get better. There are solutions out there to the complex web of failure in which we’re currently entangled.
Politics, But Better will look at the very fabric of our system and what improvements can be made. Exploring twenty-six issues in UK politics, from A to Z – including censorship, elections, insults and U-turns – it clearly lays out the problems and challenges we face, and puts forward possible solutions. Looking at a variety of ideas and real-world examples, it will encourage us to rethink the fundamental ways we do things, to question the status quo, and to chart a path towards a more hopeful future.
Respect and understanding are at the heart of this book, promoting open debate, tolerance and compassion as the cornerstones of a reformed political landscape. Politics is about improving the world – and we can do better.
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Politics and the English Language (Penguin Modern Classics)
‘Politics and the English Language’ is widely considered Orwell’s most important essay on style. Style, for Orwell, was never simply a question of aesthetics; it was always inextricably linked to politics and to truth.’All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer.’Language is a political issue, and slovenly use of language and cliches make it easier for those in power to deliberately use misleading language to hide unpleasant political facts. Bad English, he believed, was a vehicle for oppressive ideology, and it is no accident that ‘Politics and the English Language’ was written after the close of World War II.Read more
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30-Second Politics: The 50 most thought-provoking ideas in politics, each explained in half a minute
You may be OK with standard stuff like Conservatism and Democracy, but do you really know what Patrimonialism is? And what about Oligarchy? Anarcho-syndicalism?
Politics is, we are willing to bet, the most passionately argued-over subject matter, and yet how many of us flounder around in confrontational debates because we have no grip on political theory, just a vague notion that they are all out to get us?
30-Second Politics will help dispel this fog mistrust and paranoia. It challenges political theorists of all colors to come up with no-frill, no-spin, tell-it-like-it-is explanations of the 50 most important political -isms, -archies, and -ocracies that have pertained since the time of Periclean Athens. At no public expense, the book explains each political theory in nothing more than two pages, 300 words, and some propaganda-style imagery, for we all know that a picture opportunity is worth a thousand words of dull interview.
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S.H.O.R.E.: The Ultimate Descent
The Club was the Board’s international affiliate and provided professional accountants from Asia with a networking forum in their adopted country, the United States. However, despite its fancy claims, the non-profit was not run transparently, forcing a young, energetic lady, Olive, to run her voice. She and her Like-Minded friends wanted transparency and fair treatment for all. Though supported by junior members, she was confronted by the patriarchal mindset that discourages women’s involvement in manly matters. She fought her way through to the top only to find the malice deep-rooted and highly exhausting for an honest individual.Read more
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My Revision Notes: AQA A-level Politics: US and Comparative Politics
Exam board: AQA
Level: A-level
Subject: Politics
First teaching: September 2017
First exams: Summer 2018 (AS); Summer 2019 (A-level)With My Revision Notes, every student can:
– Plan and manage a successful revision programme using the topic-by-topic planner
– Consolidate subject knowledge by working through clear and focused content coverage
– Test understanding and identify areas for improvement with regular ‘Now Test Yourself’ tasks and answers- Improve exam technique through practice questions, expert tips and examples of typical mistakes to avoidRead more
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BLACK LIVES MATTER NOTEBOOK: BLACK LIVES MATTER – NOTEBOOK SUPPORTING THE MOVEMENT (BLM)
- SUPPORT THE MOVEMENT EVERYWHERE YOU GO.
- It’s important for us to show support in any way we can, buy Notebook from BLM Series to show YOUR support to the cause.We are ALL EQUAL, and we need to treat each other that way. Remember that an spread LOVE.
Specifications for the notebook:
- Cover Finish: Matte
- Dimensions: 6″ x 9″ (15.24 x 22.86 cm)
- Interior: College Ruled Notebook with white paper
- Pages: 110
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Politics: A Complete Introduction: Teach Yourself
This is your go-to guide to politics
As the UK gears up for a snap general election on the back of a hotly contested and divisive referendum, there has never been a better time to discover more about politics and how it works.
Politics: A Complete Introduction explains everything you need to know, giving you a comprehensive and easy-to-understand introduction to a complex subject.
Inside you will learn about different political ideologies and systems, referendums, elections and electoral systems, political parties and party systems, protest, the media and politics, constitutions and human rights, what the courts do, and how the machinery of government is organised. It also covers the nation state in the modern world and international terrorism.
Politics: A Complete Introduction is a jargon-free guide that will get you informed, fast.
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The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude
States are more vulnerable than people think. They can collapse in an instant—when consent is withdrawn.This is the thesis of this thrilling book. Murray Rothbard writes a classic introduction to one of the great political essays in the history of ideas.In times when dictators the world over are falling from pressure from their own people, this book, written nearly 500 years ago, is truly the prophetic tract of our times.Étienne de La Boétie was born in Sarlat, in the Périgord region of southwest France, in 1530, to an aristocratic family, and became a dear friend of Michel de Montaigne. But he ought to be remembered for this astonishingly important essay, one of the greatest in the history of political thought. It will shake the way you think of the state. His thesis and argument amount to the best answer to Machiavelli ever penned as well as one of the seminal essays in defense of liberty.La Boétie’s task is to investigate the nature of the state and its strange status as a tiny minority of the population that adheres to different rules from everyone else and claims the authority to rule everyone else, maintaining a monopoly on law. It strikes him as obviously implausible that such an institution has any staying power. It can be overthrown in an instant if people withdraw their consent.He then investigates the mystery as to why people do not withdraw, given what is obvious to him that everyone would be better off without the state. This sends him on a speculative journey to investigate the power of propaganda, fear, and ideology in causing people to acquiesce in their own subjection. Is it cowardice? Perhaps. Habit and tradition. Perhaps. Perhaps it is ideological illusion and intellectual confusion.La Boétie goes on to make a case as to why people ought to withdraw their consent immediately. He urges all people to rise up and cast off tyranny simply by refusing to concede that the state is in charge.The tyrant has “nothing more than the power that you confer upon him to destroy you. Where has he acquired enough eyes to spy upon you, if you do not provide them yourselves? How can he have so many arms to beat you with, if he does not borrow them from you? The feet that trample down your cities, where does he get them if they are not your own? How does he have any power over you except through you? How would he dare assail you if he had no cooperation from you?”Then these inspiring words: “Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces.”In all these areas, the author has anticipated Jefferson and Arendt, Gandhi and Spooner, and those who overthrew Soviet tyranny. The essay has profound relevance for understanding history and all our times.As Rothbard writes in his spectacular introduction, “La Boetie’s Discourse has a vital importance for the modern reader—an importance that goes beyond the sheer pleasure of reading a great and seminal work on political philosophy, or, for the libertarian, of reading the first libertarian political philosopher in the Western world. For La Boétie speaks most sharply to the problem which all libertarians—indeed, all opponents of despotism—find particularly difficult: the problem of strategy. Facing the devastating and seemingly overwhelming power of the modern State, how can a free and very different world be brought about? How in the world can we get from here to there, from a world of tyranny to a world of freedom? Precisely because of his abstract and timeless methodology, La Boétie offers vital insights into this eternal problem.”Read more
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My Revision Notes: AQA A-level Politics: Political Ideas
Exam board: AQA
Level: A-level
Subject: Politics
First teaching: September 2017
First exams: Summer 2019With My Revision Notes, every student can- Plan and manage a successful revision programme using the topic-by-topic planner
– Consolidate subject knowledge by working through clear and focused content coverage
– Test understanding and identify areas for improvement with regular ‘Now Test Yourself’ tasks and answers- Improve exam technique through practice questions, expert tips and examples of typical mistakesto avoidRead more
£4.40 -
The Politics of the Judiciary
This work presents the argument that given our legal system as it is now composed, the judiciary cannot act neutrally but instead must act politically. This edition has been updated to include material covering “Spycatcher”, the Guildford Four and Lord Denning.Read more
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The Little Book of Politics: A Pocket Guide to Parties, Power and Participation
Worried about the world and want to make a difference? Inspired by a new political voice or enraged by an old one? Whether you’re taking your first tentative steps into the world of politics or thinking about getting out and knocking on some doors, this clear and concise guide is for you. Providing a whistle-stop tour through the corridors of power and explaining the basics of our parliamentary democracy, it will INSPIRE YOU TO TAKE ACTION.Read more
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A Long Petal of the Sea: The Sunday Times Bestseller
_____________THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
_______________‘A powerful love story spanning generations… Full of ambition and humanity’ – Sunday Times
‘One of the strongest and most affecting works in Allende’s long career’ – New York Times Book Review
_______________On September 3, 1939, the day of the Spanish exiles’ splendid arrival in Chile, the Second World War broke out in Europe.
Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life – and the fate of his country – forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, the pianist Roser, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile.
When opportunity to seek refuge arises, they board a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda to Chile, the promised ‘long petal of sea and wine and snow’. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world.
A masterful work of historical fiction that soars from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of Pinochet, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers.
_______________‘A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging’ – Independent Online
‘A defiantly warm and funny novel, by somebody who has earned the right to argue that love and optimism can survive whatever history might throw at us’ – Daily Telegraph
‘A grand storyteller who writes with surpassing compassion and insight. Her place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago’ – Khaled Hosseini
‘A novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand new to her work: what a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time’ – Colum McCann
‘Allende’s style is impressively Olympian and the payoff is remarkable’ – Guardian
‘Epic in scope, yet intimate in execution’ – i
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AQA AS/A-level Politics workbook 2: Politics of the UK
Exam board: AQA
Level: A-Level
Subject: Politics
First teaching: September 2017
First exams: Summer 2018Create confident, literate and well-prepared students with skills-focused, topic specific workbooks.
Our Student Workbooks build students understanding, developing the confidence and exam skills they need, whilst providing ready prepared lesson solutions.
– Supplements key resources such as textbooks to adapt easily to existing schemes of work
– Offers time-saving and economical lesson solutions for both specialist and non-specialist teachers
– Provides flexible resource material to reinforce and apply topic understanding throughout the course, as classwork or extension tasks, or with revision
– Creates opportunities for self-directed learning and assessment with answers to tasks and activities supplied online
– Prepares students to meet the demands of the specification by practising exam technique and developing their literacy skillsRead more
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Command: How the Allies Learned to Win the Second World War
Al Murray’s passion for military history and the Second World War in particular has always run parallel with his comedy and was brought to the fore with several acclaimed and award-winning television shows and the recent huge success of his podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk which he hosts with fellow bestselling military author James Holland. In his first serious narrative book, Command showcases Al Murray’s passion for this pivotal period in the twentieth century, as he writes an engaging, entertaining and sharp analysis of the key allied military leaders in the conflict.
Command highlights the performance and careers of some of the leading protagonists who commanded armies, as well as the lesser-known officers who led divisions, regiments and even battalions for the British, Commonwealth and United States of American armies. By showcasing each combat commander across every major theatre of operations the allies fought in, Murray tells the story of how the Western Allies rebounded from early shocking defeats (Dunkirk and Pearl Harbor) to then victories (El Alamein and D-Day) in its efforts to defeat the Axis forces of Nazi Germany and Japan, and what that tells us about the characters and the challenges that faced them. Command is the book for all fans of Second World War History who appreciate a true enthusiast of the genre with something new and compelling to say.
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Mad Men & Bad Men: What Happened When British Politics Met Advertising
From the moment Margaret Thatcher met the Saatchi brothers, elections campaigns would never be the same again. Suddenly, every aspiring PM wanted a fast-talking, sharp-thinking ad man on their team to help dazzle voters. But what were the consequences of their fixation with the snappy and simplistic?
Sam Delaney embarks on a journey to expose the shocking truth behind the general election campaigns of the last four decades. Everything is here – from the man who snorted coke in Number 10 to the politician who fell in love with her own ad exec, from the fist-fights in Downing Street to the all-day champagne binges in Whitehall offices. Sam Delaney talks to the men at the heart of the battles – Alistair Campbell, Peter Mandelson, Tim Bell, Maurice Saatchi, Norman Tebbit, Neil Kinnock – and many more.
Dark, revealing and frequently hilarious, Mad Men and Bad Men tells the story of how unelected, unaccountable men ended up informing policy – and how the British public paid the price.Read more
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The Narrative Gym for Politics: Introducing the ABT Framework for Political Communication and Messaging
Introducing the ABT (And, But, Therefore) narrative framework; a simple three-word tool for political communications and messaging that cuts through the noise of today’s information-saturated society. It is powerful AND may seem obvious, BUT most of your opponents don’t know how to use it, THEREFORE … let us fill you in on this secret little communications weapon.Read more
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Politics: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
In this provocative but balanced essay, Kenneth Minogue discusses the development of politics from the ancient world to the twentieth century. He prompts us to consider why political systems evolve, how politics offers both power and order in our society, whether democracy is always a good thing, and what future politics may have in the twenty-first century.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
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Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction: 97 (Very Short Introductions)
This book introduces readers to the concepts of political philosophy. It starts by explaining why the subject is important and how it tackles basic ethical questions such as ‘how should we live together in society?’ It looks at political authority, the reasons why we need politics at all, the limitations of politics, and whether there are areas of life that shouldn’t be governed by politics. It explores the connections between political authority and justice, a constant theme in political philosophy, and the ways in which social justice can be used to regulate rather than destroy a market economy. David Miller discusses why nations are the natural units of government and whether the rise of multiculturalism and transnational co-operation will change this: will we ever see the formation of a world government?ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
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Code of Conduct: Why We Need to Fix Parliament – and How to Do It
THE INSTANT TOP TWO SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERCronyism, nepotism, conflicts of interest, misconduct, lying. Is this the worst parliament in history?
Leading MP Chris Bryant tells the inside story of misconduct in parliament, and outlines how we can help solve it.‘Takes a bulldozer to the crumbling edifice of parliamentary standards’ JAMES O’BRIEN
‘Absolutely riveting. I read, I blink, I gasp’ REVEREND RICHARD COLES
‘Vital. It should serve as a wake-up call to all of us’ ALASTAIR CAMPBELL
‘A lively, forensic, engrossing, sometimes entertaining, often disturbing and always unflinching interrogation of what’s gone wrong with our legislature’ ANDREW RAWNSLEY, OBSERVERThe extraordinary turmoil we have seen in British politics in the last few years has set records. We have had the fastest turnover of ministers in our history and more MPs suspended from the House than ever. Rules have been flouted repeatedly, sometimes in plain sight. The government seems unable to escape the brush of sleaze. And just when we think it’s all going to calm down a bit, another scandal breaks.
Having spent years as Chair of the Committees on Standards and Privileges, Chris Bryant has had a front-row seat for the battle over standards in parliament. Cronyism, nepotism, conflicts of interest, misconduct and lying: politicians are engaging in these activities more frequently and more publicly than ever before. The result? The work of honest and accountable MPs is tarnished. Public trust is worn thin. And when nearly two thirds of voters think that MPs are out for themselves, democracy is in trouble.
It is time for a better brand of politics. Taking us inside the Pugin-carpeted corridors of Westminster, from the prime minister’s office to the Strangers’ Bar, Code of Conduct examines how parliament has got into this mess and suggests how it might – at last – get its house in order.
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Red Africa: Reclaiming Revolutionary Black Politics (Salvage Editions)
Red Africa makes the case for a revolutionary Black politics inspired by Marxist anti-colonial struggles in Africa. Kevin Ochieng Okoth revisits historical moments when Black radicalism was defined by international solidarity in the struggle against capitalist-imperialism, that together help us to navigate the complex histories of the Black radical tradition. Hechallenges common misconceptions about national liberation, showing that the horizon of national liberation was not limited to the nation-building projects of post-independence governments. While African socialists sought to distance themselves from Marxism and argued for a ‘third way’ socialism rooted in ‘traditional African culture’ the intellectual and political tradition Okoth calls ‘Red Africa’ showed that Marxism and Black radicalism were never incompatible.The revolutionary Black politics of Eduardo Mondlane, Amílcar Cabral, Walter Rodney and Andrée Blouin gesture toward a decolonised future that never materialised. We might yet build something new from the ruins of national liberation, something which clings onto the utopian promise of freedom and refuses to let go. Red Africa is not simply an exercise in nostalgia, it is a political project that hopes to salvage what remains of this tradition―which has been betrayed, violently suppressed, or erased―and to build from it a Black revolutionary politics capable of imagining new futures out of the uncertain present.
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Politics: Ideas in Profile (Ideas in Profile – small books, big ideas)
Ideas in Profile: Small Introductions to Big Topics
In the first title of an exciting new series one of the world’s leading political scientists asks the big questions about politics: what is it, why we do we need it and where, in these turbulent times, is it heading? From the gap between rich and poor to the impact of social media, via Machiavelli, Hobbes and Weber, Runciman’s comprehensive short introduction is invaluable to those studying politics or those who want to know how life in Denmark became more comfortable than in Syria.
The Ideas in Profile series is what introductions can and should be. Concise, clear, relevant, entertaining, original and global in scope, Politics makes essential reading for anyone, from students to the general reader.
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Hitler and Stalin: The Tyrants and the Second World War
‘You have to read it’ Volodymyr Zelensky
‘Laurence Rees brilliantly combines powerful eye-witness testimony, vivid narrative and compelling analysis in this superb account’ Professor Sir Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler: Hubris and Hitler: Nemesis
‘In this fascinating study of two monsters, Rees is extraordinarily perceptive and original’ Antony Beevor
_____________________Two tyrants. Each responsible for the death of millions.
This compelling book on Hitler and Stalin – the culmination of thirty years’ work – examines the two leaders during the Second World War, when Germany and the Soviet Union fought the biggest and bloodiest war in history.
Hitler’s charismatic leadership may contrast with Stalin’s regimented rule by fear; and his intransigence later in the war may contrast with Stalin’s change in behaviour in response to events. But as bestselling historian Laurence Rees shows, at a macro level, both were prepared to create undreamt-of suffering – in Hitler’s case, most infamously the Holocaust – in order to build the utopias they wanted.
Using previously unpublished, startling eyewitness testimony from soldiers, civilians and those who knew both men personally, Laurence Rees – probably the only person alive who has met Germans who worked for Hitler and Russians who worked for Stalin – challenges long-held popular misconceptions about two of the most important figures in history. This is a master work from one of our finest historians.
_____________________‘Coming from one of the world’s experts on the Second World War, this is an important and original – and devastating – account of Hitler and Stalin as dictators. A must read’ Professor Robert Service, author of Stalin: A Biography
‘Impressive . . . well paced and well informed with an eye for telling anecdotes and colourful character sketches . . . Rees’ decision to add personal stories to his narrative adds an important layer to our understanding of both the dictators themselves and their victims’ Robert Gerwarth, The Daily Telegraph
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The Shortest History of Germany: 2
Read in an afternoon. Remember for a lifetime.
In his acclaimed new bestseller, now in paperback, James Hawes tells the story of Europe’s most admired and feared country, from Julius Caesar to Angela Merkel. With more than 100 maps and images, this is a fresh, concise and entertaining attempt to answer the question: are the Germans really us, or them?
*240 PAGES. 100+ MAPS AND IMAGES. 2,000 YEARS OF GERMAN HISTORY.*Read more
£7.50£8.50The Shortest History of Germany: 2
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The Little Book of Politics (Big Ideas)
This book is the perfect pocket-sized introduction to politics and political thought throughout history.
From the origins of democracy to Machiavelli’s cunning statecraft, and from Rousseau’s “social contract” to the American Declaration of Independence, Marxist communism, the dawn of populism, and identity politics, The Little Book of Politics examines the philosophies behind the different political beliefs and methods of government used around the world over the course of human history.
Packed with infographics and flowcharts that explain complex concepts in a simple but exciting way, The Little Book of Politics offers you a combination of clear text and hard-working infographics in a portable format that is perfect for reading on the go.
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£7.60£9.50The Little Book of Politics (Big Ideas)
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Peril
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER
THE NEW YORK TIMES NO 1 BESTSELLER
The storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021 revealed the transition from President Trump to President Biden to be one of the most dangerous periods in American history, with the result of the election called into question by the sitting president.
But, as internationally bestselling author Bob Woodward and acclaimed reporter Robert Costa reveal for the first time, it was far more than just a domestic political crisis. At the highest level of the US military, secret action was taken to prevent Trump from possibly starting a war.
Woodward and Costa interviewed more than 200 people at the centre of the turmoil, resulting in a spellbinding and definitive portrait of a nation on the brink. They take readers deep inside the Trump White House, the Biden White House, the 2020 campaign, and the Pentagon and Congress, with vivid, eyewitness accounts of what really happened. Peril is supplemented throughout with never-before-seen material from secret orders, transcripts of confidential calls, diaries, emails, meeting notes and other personal and government records, making for an unparalleled history.It is also the first inside look at Biden’s presidency, revealing the background to his controversial decision to leave Afghanistan. He took office faced with the challenges of a lifetime: dealing with the continuing deadly pandemic and its crushing economic impact, all the while navigating a bitter and disabling partisan divide, and the hovering, dark shadow of the former president. ‘We have much to do in this winter of peril,’ Biden declared at his inauguration.
Peril is the extraordinary story of the end of one presidency and the beginning of another. The culmination of Bob Woodward’s bestselling trilogy on the Trump presidency, along with Fear and Rage, it is an essential read for anyone wanting to understand this tumultuous period.
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£7.80£19.00Peril
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The Fighter of Auschwitz: The incredible true story of Leen Sanders who boxed to help others survive
**A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**‘He had the dream again last night… He taps the gloves of his unbeaten Polish opponent. There are rumours that the loser will be sent to the gas chamber.’
In 1943, the Dutch champion boxer, Leen Sanders, was sent to Auschwitz. His wife and children were put to death while he was sent ‘to the left’ with the others who were fit enough for labour. Recognised by an SS officer, he was earmarked for a ‘privileged’ post in the kitchens in exchange for weekly boxing matches for the entertainment of the Nazi guards. From there, he enacted his resistance to their limitless cruelty.
With great risk and danger to his own life, Leen stole, concealed and smuggled food and clothing from SS nursing units for years to alleviate the unbearable suffering of the prisoners in need. He also regularly supplied extra food to the Dutch women in Dr. Mengele’s experiment, Block 10. To his fellow Jews in the camp, he acted as a rescuer, leader and role model, defending them even on their bitter death march to Dachau towards the end of the war.
A story of astonishing resilience and compassion, The Fighter of Auschwitz is a testament to the endurance of humanity in the face of extraordinary evil.
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American Politics: A Beginner’s Guide (Beginner’s Guides)
To understand the world events today, you need to understand American politics. Exploring the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Jon Roper provides a sharp analysis of how history has shaped the way America governs itself. Examining the recent emergence of the right-wing Tea Party movement, President Obama’s administration, American foreign policy, and the role of powerful lobbies, this is the perfect primer for anyone interested in the world’s most powerful (and controversial) country.
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Values, Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics
*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*
*A Financial Times 2023 book to watch*‘Forceful … The fundamental thrust of Goodwin’s argument is right … a new centre ground of British politics is being formed – even if both parties have yet to fully comprehend it’ The Times
What has caused the recent seismic changes in British politics, including Brexit and a series of populist revolts against the elite? Why did so many people want to overturn the status quo? Where have the Left gone wrong? And what deeper trends are driving these changes?
British politics is coming apart. A country once known for its stability has recently experienced a series of shocking upheavals. Matthew Goodwin, acclaimed political scientist and co-author of National Populism, shows that the reason is not economic hardship, personalities or dark money. It is a far wider political realignment that will be with us for years to come. An increasingly liberalised, globalised ruling class has lost touch with millions, who found their values ignored, their voices unheard and their virtue denied. Now, this new alliance of voters is set to determine Britain’s fate.
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Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends
A FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020
‘The most important non-fiction book of the year’ David Hare
In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people from across the political spectrum in Europe and America celebrated a great achievement, felt a common purpose and, very often, forged personal friendships. Yet over the following decades the euphoria evaporated, the common purpose and centre ground gradually disappeared, extremism rose once more and eventually – as this book compellingly relates – the relationships soured too.
Anne Applebaum traces this history in an unfamiliar way, looking at the trajectories of individuals caught up in the public events of the last three decades. When politics becomes polarized, which side do you back? If you are a journalist, an intellectual, a civic leader, how do you deal with the re-emergence of authoritarian or nationalist ideas in your country? When your leaders appropriate history, or pedal conspiracies, or eviscerate the media and the judiciary, do you go along with it?
Twilight of Democracy is an essay that combines the personal and the political in an original way and brings a fresh understanding to the dynamics of public life in Europe and America, both now and in the recent past.
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Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics
The Sunday Times bestseller.
‘A compulsively readable, carefully researched account of how a malignant combination of rightwing ideology, secretive money (much of it from the US) and weaponisation of social media have shaped contemporary British (and to a limited extent, European) politics… Remarkable’ Observer, Book of the WeekDemocracy is in crisis, and unaccountable and untraceable flows of money are helping to destroy it.
This is the story of how money, vested interests and digital skulduggery are eroding trust in democracy. Antiquated electoral laws are broken with impunity, secretive lobbying is bending our politics out of shape and Silicon Valley tech giants collude in selling out democracy. Politicians lie gleefully, making wild claims that can be shared instantly with millions on social media.
Peter Geoghegan is a diligent, brilliant guide through the shadowy world of dark money and digital disinformation stretching from Westminster to Washington, and far beyond.
Praise for Democracy for Sale:
‘Thorough, gripping and vitally important’ Oliver Bullough‘A brilliant description of the dark underbelly of modern democracy. Everyone should read it’ Anne Applebaum
‘A compelling and very readable story of the ongoing corruption of our government and therefore ourselves’ Anthony Barnett
‘As urgent as it is illuminating’ Fintan O’Toole
‘This urgent, vital book is essential reading for anyone who wants to make sense of our politics’ Carole Cadwalladr
‘This forensic and highly readable book shows how so many of our democratic processes have moved into the murky, unregulated spaces of globalisation and digital innovation’ Peter Pomerantsev
‘A call to arms for all those who value democracy’ The Herald
‘Geoghegan’s words are those of someone who is prepared to keep fighting to defend and revitalise what shadows of democracy still remain’Scotsman
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The Russo-Ukrainian War: From the bestselling author of Chernobyl
CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND TELEGRAPH
Do you know what is at stake in Ukraine? Urgent, compelling reading from the author of Chernobyl on the defining conflict of our times
On 24 February 2022, Russia stunned the world by launching an invasion of Ukraine. In the midst of checking on the family and friends who were now on the front lines of Europe’s largest conflict since the outbreak of the Second World War, acclaimed Ukrainian-American historian Serhii Plokhy inevitably found himself attempting to understand the deeper causes of the invasion, analysing its course and contemplating the wider outcomes.
The Russo-Ukrainian War is the comprehensive history of a war that has burned since 2014, and that, with Russia’s attempt to seize Kyiv, exploded a geo-political order that had been cemented since the end of the Cold War. With an eye for the gripping detail on the ground, both in the halls of power and down in the trenches, as well as a keen sense of the grander sweep of history, Plokhy traces the origins and the evolution of the conflict, from the collapse of the Russian empire to the rise and fall of the USSR and on to the development in Ukraine of a democratic politics.
Based on decades of research and his unique insight into the region, he argues that Ukraine’s defiance of Russia, and the West’s demonstration of unity and strength, has presented a profound challenge to Putin’s Great Power ambition, and further polarized the world along a new axis. A riveting, enlightening account, this is present-minded history at its best.
BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER 2023: FINANCIAL TIMES * THE TIMES * SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE * TLS
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Politics of the Mind: Marxism and Mental Distress (2nd edition)
Mental distress has become one of the key “public issues of the 21st century”. This edition of Politics of the Mind: Marxism and Mental Distress looks at the link between the economic and political system under which we live ― capitalism ― and the enormously high levels of mental distress that we see in the world today.
A new introductory chapter explores the impact on mental health of the “multiple crises” of the system including the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, discusses the significance of new research that challenges the biomedical model and assesses the implications for mental health and mental health services of political developments since the book was first published in 2017.
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The Defiant: A History of Football Against Fascism
The Defiant: A History of Football Against Fascism uncovers the role that footballers and fans have played in the fight against fascism and the far right. Follow the path of football activism from the turbulent 1920s to the culture wars of the 21st century. What role did footballers play in World War Two? How did a Portuguese Cup Final help bring down Western Europe’s longest-running dictatorship? What impact did the football community have in bringing the atrocities of Latin America’s cruellest dictators to global attention? Football historian and author Chris Lee shines a spotlight on the roles of players, fans, coaches and officials in the fight against the dictatorships of Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, Salazar and authoritarian states in Latin America, bringing us an intriguing cast of rebels, partisans, spies and activists. Featuring interviews with leading authors and academics, fans and progressive football clubs, The Defiant shows that football and politics cannot be separated and asks what the future holds.Read more
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The Politics (Penguin Classics)
Raising questions that are as relevant to modern society as they were to the ancient world, Aristotle’s The Politics remains central to the study of political science millennia after its compilation. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Greek by T.A. Sinclair, revised and re-presented by Trevor J. Saunders.
In The Politics Aristotle addresses the questions that lie at the heart of political science. How should society be ordered to ensure the happiness of the individual? Which forms of government are best and how should they be maintained? By analysing a range of city constitutions – oligarchies, democracies and tyrannies – he seeks to establish the strengths and weaknesses of each system, and to decide which are the most effective, in theory and in practice. Like his predecessor Plato, Aristotle believed that the ideal constitution should be good in itself and in accordance with nature, and that it is needed by man – ‘a political animal’ – to fulfil his potential. A hugely significant work, which has influenced thinkers as diverse as Thomas Aquinas and Machiavelli, The Politics remains an outstanding commentary on fundamental political issues and concerns, and provides fascinating insights into the workings and attitudes of the Greek city-state.
The introductions by T.A. Sinclair and Trevor J. Saunders discuss the influence of The Politics on philosophers, its modern relevance and Aristotle’s political beliefs. This edition contains Greek and English glossaries, and a bibliography for further reading.
Aristotle (384-322BC) was born at Stagira, in the dominion of the kings of Macedonia. For twenty years he studied at Athens in the Academy of Plato. Some time later, became the tutor of young Alexander the Great. His writings, including De Anima, The Nicomachean Ethics, Poetics, and The Politics, profoundly affected the whole course of ancient and medieval philosophy.
If you enjoyed The Politics, you might like Plato’s Republic, also available in Penguin Classics.
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£9.50£12.30The Politics (Penguin Classics)
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Pearson Edexcel A-level Politics Student Guide 3: Political Ideas Second Edition
This Student Guide will help you to:
* Identify key content for the exams with our concise coverage of topics
* Avoid common pitfalls with clear definitions and exam tips throughout
* Reinforce your learning with bullet-list summaries at the end of each section
* Make links between topics with synoptic links highlighted throughout
* Test your knowledge with rapid-fire knowledge check questions and answers
* Find out what examiners are looking for with our Questions & Answers section, for the core political ideas, plus Anarchism, Feminism and NationalismRead more
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A New Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and Deliberative Politics
Jürgen Habermas’s book The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, first published in 1962, has long been recognized as one of the most important works of twentieth-century social thought. Blending philosophy and social history, it offered an account of the public sphere as a domain that mediates between civil society and the state in which citizens could discuss matters of common concern and participate in democratic decision-making through the formation of public opinion. Now, in view of the digital revolution and the resulting crisis of democracy, he returns to this important topic.
In this new book Habermas focuses on digital media, in particular social media, which are increasingly relegating traditional mass media to the background. While the new media initially promised to empower users, this promise is being undermined by their algorithm-steered platform structure that promotes self-enclosed informational ‘bubbles’ and discursive ‘echo chambers’ in which users split into a plurality of pseudo-publics that are largely closed off from one other. Habermas argues that, without appropriate regulation of digital media, this new structural transformation is in danger of hollowing out the institutions through which democracies can shape social and economic processes and address urgent collective problems, ranging from growing social inequality to the climate crisis.
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