Books on politics by Old Shirburnians
Hugh Pope, Dining with Al-Qaeda: Three Decades Exploring the Many Worlds of the Middle East. An Oxford-educated scholar of the Middle East and former foreign correspondent for “The Wall Street Journal”, Hugh Pope lived and worked in two dozen countries throughout the region. Following in the footsteps of Sir Richard Burton and Lawrence of Arabia, … Read more
Timothy Garton Ash, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name. ‘During times of universal deceit’, wrote George Orwell, ‘telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.’ For more than thirty years, Timothy Garton Ash has travelled among truth tellers and political charlatans to record, with scalpel-sharp precision, what he has found. This … Read more
Philip Short, Pol Pot: The History of a Nightmare. Pol Pot was an idealistic, reclusive figure with great charisma and personal charm. He initiated a revolution whose radical egalitarianism exceeded any other in history. But in the process, his country descended into madness and his name became a byword for oppression. In the three-and-a-half years … Read more
Peter Oborne, Alastair Campbell. With Alastair Campbell’s career as the Prime Minster’s press spokesman coming to a close amid the huge controversy of the Hutton Inquiry, the debate over Weapons of Mass Destruction and the waging of the war in Iraq, this biography has been completely revised and rewritten with a substantial section of new … Read more
Peter H. Sedgwick, The Market Economy and Christian Ethics (New Studies in Christian Ethics) Peter Sedgwick explores the relation of a theology of justice to that of human identity in the context of the market economy, and engages with critics of capitalism and the market. He examines three aspects of the market economy: first, how … Read more
Tobias Jones, The Dark Heart of Italy: Travels Through Time and Space Across Italy. Why is Italy still riven with internal conflict? Why does one man – Silvio Berlusconi – appear to own everything from Padre Nostro to Cosa Nostra? Tobias Jones sets out to answer these and many other questions during his three-year voyage … Read more
Michael Rapport, Nationality and Citizenship in Revolutionary France: The Treatment of Foreigners 1789-1799. In 1789 the French Revolution opened with a cosmopolitan flourish and progressive observers across the world hailed a new era of international fraternity, based on a new kind of politics. Foreigners were welcomed to France, to enrich the regenerated nation and to … Read more
Peter Oborne, The Rise of Political Lying. Tracing the history of political falsehood back to its earliest days, but focusing specifically on the exponential rise of the phenomenon during the Major and Blair governments, Peter Oborne demonstrates that the truth has become an increasingly slippery concept in recent years. From woolly pronouncements that are designed merely … Read more
Mark Swenarton, The Politics of Making. A unique collection of contemporary writings, this book explores the politics involved in the making and experiencing of architecture and cities from a cross-cultural and global perspective Taking a broad view of the word ‘politics’, the essays address a range of questions, including: What is the relationship between politics and … Read more
Kevin Desmond, Planet Savers: 301 Extraordinary Environmentalists. Protecting the planet is everyone’s work. But we all have our own heroes in whatever area we are working. Planet Savers brings together the varied stories of the hundreds of movers and shakers that have spoken up throughout history and taken action to defend the world from pollution, … Read more