Best politics books of 2019 | Politics books | The Guardian

It won’t be long until Britain finds out what Santa has brought us for a government. But whether the election delivers just what you’ve always wanted, or just the political equivalent of a sock full of ashes, there’s a book out there that can help you make sense of it.

people brace! (or books) by christine berry and joe guinan is not as well known as it should be, considering that it is one of the few books written from a sympathetic leftist perspective of analyzing potential vulnerabilities in the corbyn project and how they might be countered. Given the argument that what the union leader is trying to do has not been achieved in a democracy in modern times, Berry and Guinan examine what has defeated radical left-wing movements in the past and what obstacles in particular this might face. . how would a relatively inexperienced frontbench team deal with the quantum leap from opposition to government? how should they respond to companies that oppose their economic agenda or deal with potentially unrealistic expectations among supporters about what can be achieved? Whether you’re excited or alarmed by the radical responses discussed, it’s one of the few political books this year likely to survive contact with an unpredictable general election. By Christmas, it will be an invaluable primer for Corbyn’s team as they move toward No. 10, or it will be worth looking back for clues as to why voters chose not to make that happen.

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francis green and philip kynaston’s engineers of privilege (bloomsbury) also captures some of the zeitgeist of a campaign dominated by raging debates about elitism. it is part an impassioned attack on the unfair advantages conferred by private education, part an analysis of why the ruling left has always refrained from tackling it head-on. both authors received private education and do not seek to demonize other parents for their choices; By the standards of the last Labor Party conference, at which members voted to abolish private schools and redistribute their assets, he is positively modest in his recommendations for change. but this is a thought-provoking book, raising questions about social mobility and social justice that are likely to influence our politics no matter what happens next.

Similarly, Amelia Gentleman’s poignant Windrush Betrayal explains how a generation of people who thought their future in Britain was secure saw their lives turned upside down. unfairly turned upside down, while also highlighting the potential risks to EU citizens living in Britain if Brexit goes ahead.

Which brings us neatly to the legacy of the last two prime ministers. for the record david cameron’s (william collins) autobiography is an essential and readable guide for anyone still eager to find out how we ended up here, but it’s also frustrating. after all those months musing in his pastor’s cabin, she still doesn’t feel like she understands why so many people are mad at him. he remains optimistic in defense of austerity, complaining at one point in relation to opposition to his coalition government that “we were cutting just £1 out of every £100 spent, but you’d think we’d reinstated asylum”. And if, as one suspects, he has had some dark nights of the soul over Brexit, then they are greatly softened in a narrative that depicts the referendum more as a sadly inevitable consequence of the trajectory Britain was on than a personal choice. which failed catastrophically. readers may yearn for something deeper, but perhaps that was always true of this particular prime minister.

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While one has to believe in Anthony Seldon’s may at 10 (bite), a tale of theresa may in power, then what came next leaves cameron looking positively titanic. It’s hard not to wonder if May suffers from being the only person who doesn’t give Seldon her version of things, leaving the former aides to blame everyone but themselves for what went wrong. but the author has now written biographies of six British pms and has apparently gone all the way, portraying them as at once stiff and oddly tremulous, prone to withdrawing from the fray at critical moments. God knows what he’ll do with Boris Johnson when the time comes, though while you wait there’s always Decline and Fail by John Crace (Guardian/Faber), a collection of sketches from this surreal past year in politics.

Anyone who has spent this election campaign screaming at the television needs a copy of Eily Maitlis Penguin in their Christmas stocking. written before the disastrous interview with prince andrew and presented as a book about what happens when political interviews go wrong – more by trickery than conspiracy, according to the newsnight host – it’s funny and subtly clever, leading the reader behind the camera to examine journalistic dilemmas, for example, whether questioning far-right figures on air is holding them accountable or just feeding the trolls.