Politics Books
recommended by political scientists and historians
Last updated: June 11, 2025
The best books on Why We Need Diplomats, recommended by Geoff Berridge
Academic and author of textbooks on the field tells us that diplomacy can well do without rank amateurs “in the same way that medicine can do without snake-oil merchants”
The best books on How Libertarians Can Govern, recommended by Mitch Daniels
The Governor of Indiana promotes a new philosophy of libertarianism and selects the books that have influenced him most.
The best books on Ethics in Public Life, recommended by Alex Carlile
The Lib Dem peer says that reading Cicero’s speeches, George Eliot’s novels and Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poems can help us manage the ethical dilemmas of our own historical moment, and provide clues to human nature
The best books on Freedom, recommended by John Kampfner
The veteran British journalist and author John Kampfner discusses five books that address concepts of democracy and freedom.
The best books on Medicinal Marijuana, recommended by Tato Grasso
The Italian cardiologist and fellow of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine proposes five books on Medicinal Marijuana and explains why we should be reading them.
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1
Islam and Democracy
by Fatima Mernissi -
2
Secular and Islamic Feminist Critiques in the Work of Fatima Mernissi
by Raja Rhouni -
3
Inside the Gender Jihad
by Amina Wadud -
4
Counter Legal Draft of the Compilation of Islamic Law
by Siti Musdah Mulia -
5
Iranian Women’s One Million Signatures
by Noushin Khorasani
The best books on Islam and Feminism, recommended by Margot Badran
The best books on Islam and Feminism, recommended by Margot Badran
The historian and gender studies specialist Margot Badran has devoted her life’s work to the Muslim world. Here she explains what feminism means in the context of Islam and chooses five books that have been critical in its evolution.
The best books on The Essence of Islam, recommended by Ahmad Thomson
British lawyer Ahmad Thomson converted to Islam in 1973 and founded Wynne Chambers—one of the first chambers to specialise in Islamic law in the UK. Here he recommends five books on ‘the essence of Islam.’
The best books on Women and Islam, recommended by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
American Enterprise Institute and campaigner for women’s rights against militant Islam discusses five books ranging from the Koran to Hayek’s Constitution of Liberty
The best books on The Future of Islam, recommended by Ziauddin Sardar
The writer, broadcaster and cultural critic Ziauddin Sardar says Muslim societies are not always good at looking towards the future, dwelling instead on the glories of the past and feeling fatalistic about the present
The best books on Islam and Modernity, recommended by Turi Munthe
CEO and founder of Demotix, the multiple-awardwinning open newswire, discusses five books on Islam and Modernity and the politicisation of Islam in the last decade.