Politics recommend reads 2021

Should be of interest to all Politics students, but those looking at UCAS 2022 might need to pay closer attention?

This list has been compiled by Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian. Her first recommendation is also one of my books of the year, full stop, and is by the political journalist Steve Richards. Says the review:

"Steve Richards’s The Prime Ministers We Never Had (Hodder), a book stuffed full of roads less travelled. His list of politicians who were once widely tipped for Number 10, only to fall short in the end, ranges from Rab Butler to Neil Kinnock to Jeremy Corbyn (and if the latter seems a surprise inclusion, then half the point of a list is arguing about who should or shouldn’t have been on it). Each gets a potted biography, and thoughtful analysis of what ultimately stopped them reaching Downing Street. The author doesn’t try to predict how history might have unfolded had they made it, but a sense of loss hangs over several chapters."

See the full list of recommendations here: https://www.theguardian.com/bo...

On a related note, I was asked by a tutee to recommend some books. Not necessarily subject related. A difficult one. I suggested the books by Tim Marshall as a starting point. But then thinking about it, my favourite book of recent times is 'Becoming' by Michelle Obama. I have bought a copy for pretty much anyone I care about. Essentially it is composed of three parts. Her life growing up in Chicago's Southside and the related racial politics of that era and place. Then her movement from college to professional life. And a particularly sweet retelling of her first encounters with her future husband. Then the last bit is a relative let down, as it focuses on her life as FLOTUS. So, it wasn't released this year, but if you haven't read it yet, then it should be top of your list.