Politics Books
recommended by political scientists and historians
Last updated: June 11, 2025
The best books on Israel and Palestine in Art, recommended by Alon Hilu
Award-winning novelist and playwright positions himself among a new breed of Israeli historians: “I think I am part of a new trend in Israel to be critical of the way we tell our history”
The best books on Communism in America, recommended by Harvey Klehr
Professor of politics and history at Emory University chooses five books on the American Communist movement and Soviet espionage in America—and argues that American spies did pose a genuine threat to national security
The best books on Equality, recommended by Trevor Phillips
The chairman of the Equalities & Human Rights Commission says discrimination and social injustice won’t be changed by what happens in courtrooms or parliament but by how we all behave
The best books on Forgiveness, recommended by Simon Mawer
Novelist Simon Mawer picks his favourite books on forgiveness.
The best books on Education and Society, recommended by Alison Wolf
KCL Professor Alison Wolf is an authority on education and the labour market. She recommends books on education and society, highlighting Icelandic pastoral neo-myth Independent People
The best books on Aid Work, recommended by Cassie Knight
From 2001 to 2003, Cassie Knight lived and worked in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, managing a humanitarian aid program after the 1999 civil war. Here, she recommends books on aid work, and its realities as well as inspiring books about it.
The best books on How to Win Elections, recommended by Marko Rakar
The campaigning expert explains what it is that makes a successful political campaign. Highlights The Election Game And How To Win It as the bible for all political consultants
The best books on Disability, recommended by Tom Shakespeare
Tom Shakespeare, a professor of disability research at Norwich Medical School, says early books on disability focused too much on physical impairment, and not enough on the stigma attached to it.
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1
My Year in Iraq
by L Paul Bremer III with Malcolm McConnell -
2
The Assassination Attempts against President Saddam Hussein
by Barzan al-Tikriti -
3
Cultural Cleansing in Iraq
by Raymond W Baker, Shereen T Ismael, Tareq Y Ismael -
4
The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway -
5
A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
The best books on Life in Iraq During the Invasion, recommended by May Witwit
The best books on Life in Iraq During the Invasion, recommended by May Witwit
Iraqi academic May Witwit tells of the horrors of US-occupied Iraq: “We were being shot at, and for three days a body lay at my front gate and nobody dared to move him”
The best books on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, recommended by Dan Choi
The graduate of West Point Military Academy, fluent Arabic speaker and Iraq war veteran, talks about the books that inspired him to take a stand against the US military’s regressive Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy