Political reading recommendations

[metagirl]

I'm in the mood for some heavy reading this christmas holiday - can anyone recommend any good new books relating to UK and/or US politics. Nonfiction. The more sensational the better.

[Drusilla]

Imperial Ambitions:conversations on the post 9/11 world by Noam Chomsky (Hamish Hamilton). It's all about the smokescreen America and GB designed to justify imperialist ambitions.
Postwar: a history of Europe since 1945 by Tony Judt (William Heinemann)
Rough Crossings by Simon Schama (BBC Books) It's not about modern politics but relates to the transportation of freed American slaves to Sierra Leone.

[BigMac]

Sir Christopher Meyer's (former British Ambassador to the USA - at the time of the Iraq war) recently published autobiography (can't rememeber the title, but it was serialised in at least one newspaper recently and has ben the subject of considerable media attention....)

[metagirl]

it was serialised in The Guardian Big Mac - interesting reading that! Feel sort of sorry for him now as he's been pretty much condemned by every public figure of note. He should have probably waited a couple more years before stating his opinions in print - would hate to have been the current Ambassador at the first meeting with his US colleagues after it was published!

[paddy_36]

Anything by John Pilger highly recommended.

Michael Moore for the populist/humorous approach.

[bongerman]

Pilger's latest ("Tell me no lies") is a collection of "real journalism" - stories that aren't always given coverage in the mainstream media. It's good but maybe better to just dip into.

If you've got a lot of time I'd recommend his "New Rulers of the world" that covers Indonesia, US foreign policy and Australia's relationship with the Aboriginals

Best read in a while though is Chomsky's "Hegemony or Survival" about US foreign policy. ie they would prefer no world at all to one in which they weren't the supreme superpower! Couple of years old now but still should be compulsary reading!

Enjoy!

[Booldawg]

'The Clash of Civilizations' by Samuel P Huntingdon is quite good. Its about how wars are fought between cultures and not nations pending the collapse of the eastern bloc.

[Upforit]

I suggest �Mein Kampf� by Alolph Hitler, �Das Kapital� by Karl Marx. They both give ample to think about, even if you do not entirely agree with the contents. Also:
�My Friend Footy: A Memoir of Paul Foot� by Richard Ingrams.
�Portrait of a Revolutionary- Mao Tse-Tung� by Robert Payne.
�TONY BENN: A Political Life�:by David Powell

Although it is a novel, John Steinbeck�s �The Grapes of Wrath� give a very good view of American home politics in the �30�s. It is also one of the easiest to read!

Michael Foot, one of my personal political hero�s, has several books listed here. All well worth the effort, even if you don�t attempt the rest: http://www.tribweb.co.uk/michaelfoot/books/index.htm

[Sundance]

I have a new book that just came out, "Do As I Say", (Not As I Do), by Peter Schweizer.

I've just started it, but it exposes Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, Al Franken, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Ralph Nader, Nancy Pelosi, George Soros, Barbra Streisand, Gloria Steinem, and Cornel West , all for their liberal hypocrisy, and it documents and footnotes it all.

The book reveals things like, "Michael Moore denounces oil and defense contractors as war profiteers. He also claims to have no stock portfolio, yet he owns shares in Haliburton, Boeing, and Honeywell and does his postproduction film work in Canada to avoid paying union wages in the United States."

"Barbra Streisand prides herself as an environmental activist, yet she owns shares in a notorious strip-mining company."

"Nancy Pelosi received the 2002 Cesar Chavez Award from the United Farm Workers, yet she and her husband own a Napa Valley vineyard that uses nonunion labor."

It's good stuff.

[Stormwolf]

BB

If you are interested in African politics and the duplicity of the west I highly recommend 'The Great Betrayal' by Ian Douglas Smith, the former PM of Rhodesia. Former war hero and farmer turned politician, Mr Smith pulls no punches about how South Africa and the UK sold Rhodesia down the river. The result is that the poor people of a beautiful country are suffering terrible hardships that have not been experienced since the 1800's.

Stormwolf

[redheap]

Sun Tzu The Art of War

Machiavelli The Prince

Excellently written, interesting (not modern but very universal!!) but also quite short and can be taken in little bites!

Phil

[hashref]

Animal Farm