Repeated in case it was lost in the post.
For Americans, a book at the same time:
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
plus The Iron Heel by Jack London
*The Great U75 Politics Reading List Thread.
- Thread starter Idris2002
- Start date
Repeated in case it was lost in the post.
For Americans, a book at the same time:
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
plus The Iron Heel by Jack London
Mutual Aid - Kropotkin
Ace book, points out the positive side of animal and human nature. All too often often when people talk about human nature they've spent their lives thinking and reading that all animals/people are shits, and touched nothing that might counteract this theory.
Good book and a nice one to read.
No Logo - naomi klein
Even though she's got her head so far up her arse she'd need a miners lamp to find out where she's going. This is a good book and a scary book and to me it illustrates the nature of capitalism and just how far it'd go given half a chance. It also put me off buying nike for life.
Moving forward, particapatory economics - Can't remember his name and I've lost the sodding book.
It spells out a lot of alternative ideas to capitalism and it gives you somewhere to start thinking for yourself from. It's not some blueprint for an anarchist soceity, but it helps kick start your brain so you can come up with your own. Some nice quotes too.
The spanish civil war - Anthony beevor
An honest (I would say that cos its favourable to the CNT and anarchists) account of the spanish civil war. It dispels some of the myths put about in many of the more popular books and it also gives a really good account of ordinary life in radicalised citys like Madrid. Beevor gives a pretty concise account of the war and considering he's a fairly un-political person and he's won awards for books like Stalingrad you can trust his account more than some others.
(I sound biased as fuck now
)
...As far as books that don't fit my political spectrum, The politics of hope is interesting and humane even if I don't agree with a lot of it. The republic's interesting n' all. I think that everyone should try and read Mein Kampf at least once although I admit that I made 3 pages then got so fucked off I put it down and made excuses not to go back to it.
Ace book, points out the positive side of animal and human nature. All too often often when people talk about human nature they've spent their lives thinking and reading that all animals/people are shits, and touched nothing that might counteract this theory.
Good book and a nice one to read.
No Logo - naomi klein
Even though she's got her head so far up her arse she'd need a miners lamp to find out where she's going. This is a good book and a scary book and to me it illustrates the nature of capitalism and just how far it'd go given half a chance. It also put me off buying nike for life.
Moving forward, particapatory economics - Can't remember his name and I've lost the sodding book.
It spells out a lot of alternative ideas to capitalism and it gives you somewhere to start thinking for yourself from. It's not some blueprint for an anarchist soceity, but it helps kick start your brain so you can come up with your own. Some nice quotes too.
The spanish civil war - Anthony beevor
An honest (I would say that cos its favourable to the CNT and anarchists) account of the spanish civil war. It dispels some of the myths put about in many of the more popular books and it also gives a really good account of ordinary life in radicalised citys like Madrid. Beevor gives a pretty concise account of the war and considering he's a fairly un-political person and he's won awards for books like Stalingrad you can trust his account more than some others.
(I sound biased as fuck now
)...As far as books that don't fit my political spectrum, The politics of hope is interesting and humane even if I don't agree with a lot of it. The republic's interesting n' all. I think that everyone should try and read Mein Kampf at least once although I admit that I made 3 pages then got so fucked off I put it down and made excuses not to go back to it.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
ten days that shook the world: john reed
fascinating first hand account of revolutionary russia.
elements of refusal: john zerzan
especially the bits where he examines how people are ordered and dominated by language and time.
the abolition of work: bob black
does what it says on the cover! anti-work classic.
marx and engels on religion - perhaps the swp cc might read - or reread - this.
fascinating first hand account of revolutionary russia.
elements of refusal: john zerzan
especially the bits where he examines how people are ordered and dominated by language and time.
the abolition of work: bob black
does what it says on the cover! anti-work classic.
marx and engels on religion - perhaps the swp cc might read - or reread - this.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
1) Karl Marx "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte"
Marx is justifiably famous for his theories of political economy but this is an example of him writing a history book, in fact one of the greatest history books ever written.
It's illuminating, penetrating and concise. It's also beautifully written and contains some of the most memorable turns of phrase and aphorisms ever printed.
"Hegel remarks somewhere that all facts and personages of great importance in world history occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce"
...and...
"Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living"
...both appear on the first page! I can't recommend it highly enough.
2) David Harvey "Social Justice and the City"
Harvey was the pre-eminent liberal urban geographer in the world. In the first half of this book he took his liberal conceptual tool kit and stretched it to its limits in trying to make sense of the city.
In the second half of the book he broke with his liberal ideas and came at the subject from a Marxist perspective. The result was a book which completely reshaped his discipline. Without this book you have no Mike Davis and little other radical urban theory. As well as carrying a huge influence, "Social Justice and the City" is insightful and fascinating.
While I'm on the subject of Harvey, his "The Condition of Postmodernity" is one of the best attacks on postmodernism you will ever read.
3) Leon Trotsky "The Revolution Betrayed"
Trotsky was a superbly gifted writer. He also has an advantage over the other "canonical" Marxist figures in that while the Stalinists murdered him, they didn't butcher his writings in the kind of leaden, cack-handed translations they inflicted on Marx, Engels and Lenin.
In any case, Trotsky is by some distance the most pleasurable Marxist writer to read at least in terms of style. "The Revolution Betrayed" is no exception. It's a quite brilliant, if depressing, history of the Stalinist degeneration of the Russian Revolution. This one is particulary recommended for members of the SWP.
4) Paul Cardan "Modern Capitalism and Revolution"
Here's one from an anarchist (or maybe "anarchoid") perspective. Paul Cardan was a psuedonym used by Cornelius Castoriadis, one of the main figures around the journal "Socialisme ou Barbarie".
This book is probably the most complete statement of his political views as he completed his evolution from Trotskyism to Anarchism. There is an element of the period piece in its attraction, with the central social role it gives to an ever growing bureaucracy and its post-war boom conditioned view that capitalism had overcome its fundamental economic contradictions, but the attraction is no less strong for that.
A coherent and interesting challenge to Marxism from another left wing perspective.
5) Karl Marx "Capital"
I know that it has already been mentioned on somebody else's list, but this one bears repetition. "Capital" is basic to the Marxist understanding of the capitalist system. Regardless of your political persuasion you can only gain by wrestling with the ideas in this book.
Marx is justifiably famous for his theories of political economy but this is an example of him writing a history book, in fact one of the greatest history books ever written.
It's illuminating, penetrating and concise. It's also beautifully written and contains some of the most memorable turns of phrase and aphorisms ever printed.
"Hegel remarks somewhere that all facts and personages of great importance in world history occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce"
...and...
"Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living"
...both appear on the first page! I can't recommend it highly enough.
2) David Harvey "Social Justice and the City"
Harvey was the pre-eminent liberal urban geographer in the world. In the first half of this book he took his liberal conceptual tool kit and stretched it to its limits in trying to make sense of the city.
In the second half of the book he broke with his liberal ideas and came at the subject from a Marxist perspective. The result was a book which completely reshaped his discipline. Without this book you have no Mike Davis and little other radical urban theory. As well as carrying a huge influence, "Social Justice and the City" is insightful and fascinating.
While I'm on the subject of Harvey, his "The Condition of Postmodernity" is one of the best attacks on postmodernism you will ever read.
3) Leon Trotsky "The Revolution Betrayed"
Trotsky was a superbly gifted writer. He also has an advantage over the other "canonical" Marxist figures in that while the Stalinists murdered him, they didn't butcher his writings in the kind of leaden, cack-handed translations they inflicted on Marx, Engels and Lenin.
In any case, Trotsky is by some distance the most pleasurable Marxist writer to read at least in terms of style. "The Revolution Betrayed" is no exception. It's a quite brilliant, if depressing, history of the Stalinist degeneration of the Russian Revolution. This one is particulary recommended for members of the SWP.
4) Paul Cardan "Modern Capitalism and Revolution"
Here's one from an anarchist (or maybe "anarchoid") perspective. Paul Cardan was a psuedonym used by Cornelius Castoriadis, one of the main figures around the journal "Socialisme ou Barbarie".
This book is probably the most complete statement of his political views as he completed his evolution from Trotskyism to Anarchism. There is an element of the period piece in its attraction, with the central social role it gives to an ever growing bureaucracy and its post-war boom conditioned view that capitalism had overcome its fundamental economic contradictions, but the attraction is no less strong for that.
A coherent and interesting challenge to Marxism from another left wing perspective.
5) Karl Marx "Capital"
I know that it has already been mentioned on somebody else's list, but this one bears repetition. "Capital" is basic to the Marxist understanding of the capitalist system. Regardless of your political persuasion you can only gain by wrestling with the ideas in this book.
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
Some very good picks there n/b. The Harvey book is a classic, as is his book on pomo you mentioned. Castoriadis' most important works from his time with S ou B and after were published in a 3 volume edition of his 'Social and Political Writings: 1946-1979' and is one of the best collections out there. Very influential for me personally. There is a collection of the rest of Soub's works (Lefort, Mothe, Simon etc) is in the pipeworks as well.
Richard Brenner
New Member
The Friends of Durruti by Agustin Guillermon (AK Press)
This is a really thought-provoking and quite detailed examination of the development of a left-wing anarchist group during the Spanish revolution. Though it is published by anarchists and has an anarchist introduction, the author shows very clearly how the unfloding takss of the revolution and the betrayal of the mainstream anarchists forced the FoD towards a programme much closer to revolutionary Marxism than to anarchism.
Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Spain by Felix Morrow (Pathfinder)
A thorough and well written examination of the Spanish Revolution and the policy of the main working class organisations - Communist Party, Socialist Party, Anarchists, POUM and Trotskyists.
This is a really thought-provoking and quite detailed examination of the development of a left-wing anarchist group during the Spanish revolution. Though it is published by anarchists and has an anarchist introduction, the author shows very clearly how the unfloding takss of the revolution and the betrayal of the mainstream anarchists forced the FoD towards a programme much closer to revolutionary Marxism than to anarchism.
Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Spain by Felix Morrow (Pathfinder)
A thorough and well written examination of the Spanish Revolution and the policy of the main working class organisations - Communist Party, Socialist Party, Anarchists, POUM and Trotskyists.
Idris2002
Stay Alive in '25
My wee thread is all grown up . . .
About Harvey's Condition of Postmodernity.
It's really as good as everyone says it is - and the value is that not only does it slag off postmodernism, it connects the rise of postmodernism to the changes in the capitalist core countries that began with the end of the post-war boom in the early 70s.
Capitalist restructuring - e.g. the move from Fordism to Japanese style Just-in-Time production - had a domino effect throughout society and culture.
I've just finished Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation: but as my brother (it was his copy) told me, you'd better have a burger before you read it (if that's your bag) because you'll never want another one after it.
About Harvey's Condition of Postmodernity.
It's really as good as everyone says it is - and the value is that not only does it slag off postmodernism, it connects the rise of postmodernism to the changes in the capitalist core countries that began with the end of the post-war boom in the early 70s.
Capitalist restructuring - e.g. the move from Fordism to Japanese style Just-in-Time production - had a domino effect throughout society and culture.
I've just finished Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation: but as my brother (it was his copy) told me, you'd better have a burger before you read it (if that's your bag) because you'll never want another one after it.
Kaka Tim
Half Arsed and Slapdash till I Die
One I forgot earlier -
'War and an Irish Town' - Eamon Mc Cann.
Excellent first hand accounts of the defining years of the troubles - the civil rights marches, bloody sunday etc.
Mc Cann was a leading figure in the civil rights movement in Derry and longtime socialist who has (according to Ms Kak) being doing the political Hokey Cokey with the Irish SWP for the past 30 years.
One not to bother with - Orgasms of History by Yves Fremion. Billed as an account of '3000 years of spontaneous insurrection' it is a massive dissapointment - indecipherable prose, terrible translation and a gurantee that you will be none the wiser about any of the events described.
One not to bother with from the other side -
The Downing Street Years - Margeret Thatcher. Relentless, hectoring self justification expressed through turgid, repetitive prose. Available for 50p from most charity shops.
'War and an Irish Town' - Eamon Mc Cann.
Excellent first hand accounts of the defining years of the troubles - the civil rights marches, bloody sunday etc.
Mc Cann was a leading figure in the civil rights movement in Derry and longtime socialist who has (according to Ms Kak) being doing the political Hokey Cokey with the Irish SWP for the past 30 years.
One not to bother with - Orgasms of History by Yves Fremion. Billed as an account of '3000 years of spontaneous insurrection' it is a massive dissapointment - indecipherable prose, terrible translation and a gurantee that you will be none the wiser about any of the events described.
One not to bother with from the other side -
The Downing Street Years - Margeret Thatcher. Relentless, hectoring self justification expressed through turgid, repetitive prose. Available for 50p from most charity shops.
anti-capitalist
Tiocfaidh Ár Lá
Anyone said Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed? Brilliant first-hand account of the Russian revolution. Incredibly honest, detailed and fast paced.
MarkCyclist
New Member
Andre Gorz - Farewell to the Working Class.
I read this years ago and liked it at the time!
Practical description of post-revolution in practice if I remember correctly.
Would like to know if anyone else has an opinion and whether I'm over-rating through nostalgia.
Victor Papenek (?) - Design for the real world (?)
Not sure about the author or title. How's that for research.
But it's a political look a design and still relevant.
I read this years ago and liked it at the time!
Practical description of post-revolution in practice if I remember correctly.
Would like to know if anyone else has an opinion and whether I'm over-rating through nostalgia.
Victor Papenek (?) - Design for the real world (?)
Not sure about the author or title. How's that for research.
But it's a political look a design and still relevant.
DrRingDing
'anti-human wanker'
The Selfish Gene- Richard Dawkins, WHAT!?!....ah! but you see you need to understand the basics fully before ranting.
Manufacturing Consent - Naom Chomsky, cos this grandad knows his shit even if it's a gruelling academic read.
Manufacturing Consent - Naom Chomsky, cos this grandad knows his shit even if it's a gruelling academic read.
Dickie Dadd
New Member
Roddy Doyle's 'A star called Henry'.
A brilliant historical novel about an impoverished kid growing up in Dublin, who goes on to take part in the Easter Rising.
I believe there's a film in the pipeline?
A brilliant historical novel about an impoverished kid growing up in Dublin, who goes on to take part in the Easter Rising.
I believe there's a film in the pipeline?
Things Can Only Get Better
John O'Farrell
Account of the 1979-97 period from one of those wishy-washy yoghurt-knitting principleless liberals that everyone hates.
edited to add: Just realised: this is my 1,000th post.
A lot of time, very well wasted, I think.
John O'Farrell
Account of the 1979-97 period from one of those wishy-washy yoghurt-knitting principleless liberals that everyone hates.
edited to add: Just realised: this is my 1,000th post.
A lot of time, very well wasted, I think.
the scouser
the voice of reason!
The Autobiography of Mrs Thatcher
The Downing Street Years
Yes - we all know the security services proof read it first - followed by some spin doctor - but its still a good book to read about how the countrys run - and how Thatcher was Blairs fucking blueprint for political vision.
I got it at Oxfam - ten bob! (50p)
Also got an autographed copy of Derek Hattons autobiography 'Inside Left' - an interesting account of Hatton who stated off his career working as a youth worker in my town! - never lived here but was well liked by those who worked with him - even a tory caretaker. He also smashed 2 buses into low brideges - in the days before mass claims for whiplash.
Interesting book and hatton admits he would have sooner been an actor - his ego is apparent - but its a decent read anyways.
the redundenct notices in taxis? - it happened! - but it was only a tactic for the budget - no worker was actually made redundent - BUT - it was a fucking daft tactic to pull - they (militant) thought it was smart and clever - it worked - but backfired as the media made hay - plus there was dark goings on up here anyway.
The Downing Street Years
Yes - we all know the security services proof read it first - followed by some spin doctor - but its still a good book to read about how the countrys run - and how Thatcher was Blairs fucking blueprint for political vision.
I got it at Oxfam - ten bob! (50p)
Also got an autographed copy of Derek Hattons autobiography 'Inside Left' - an interesting account of Hatton who stated off his career working as a youth worker in my town! - never lived here but was well liked by those who worked with him - even a tory caretaker. He also smashed 2 buses into low brideges - in the days before mass claims for whiplash.
Interesting book and hatton admits he would have sooner been an actor - his ego is apparent - but its a decent read anyways.
the redundenct notices in taxis? - it happened! - but it was only a tactic for the budget - no worker was actually made redundent - BUT - it was a fucking daft tactic to pull - they (militant) thought it was smart and clever - it worked - but backfired as the media made hay - plus there was dark goings on up here anyway.
I got him to sign my copy of that book when he spoke in Bristol - a lot of the 'trendy left' were giving him a hard time, and I asked him a question which made it clear I was fairly sympathetic, so he came over at the end and had a chat with me and my ex-boyfriend. Very nice bloke.
rebel warrior
Soca Warrior
Rosa Luxemburg - the biography by Paul Frolich.
Just finished reading it - truly a socialist classic which gives not only a moving and inspiring portrait of a great revolutionary, but also an important insight into the German working class movement, particularly the political debates inside the SPD, at the start of the 20th century.
Just finished reading it - truly a socialist classic which gives not only a moving and inspiring portrait of a great revolutionary, but also an important insight into the German working class movement, particularly the political debates inside the SPD, at the start of the 20th century.
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
Tbh, you'd be better off with JP Nettls 2 volume Rosa Luxemburg (or one volume abridgement) - Frolich makes a lot of mistakes and simply didn't have access to the sources that Nettl did.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
not got an intro by cliff tho has it!
you might very well be right about its shortcomings ba, but its still a very fine and inspiring book
unlike inside left, which i picked up for 25p from a remainders shop years back. and paid at least 24p too much for it, fucking dire (and, i suspect, dishonest) book
you might very well be right about its shortcomings ba, but its still a very fine and inspiring book
unlike inside left, which i picked up for 25p from a remainders shop years back. and paid at least 24p too much for it, fucking dire (and, i suspect, dishonest) book
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
Yeah you're right, it's a very good and worthwhile book in its own right - as is Rosa Luxemburg, Women's Liberation, and Marx's Philosophy of Revolution by Raya Dunayevskaya.
DaveCinzano
WATCH OUT, GEORGE, HE'S GOT A SCREWDRIVER!
on the more mainstream political autobiogs, i remember ian gilmour (tory wet) had a bit of a corker. crossman and crosland, and barbara castle, and tony benn's earlier diaries, all well worth a shufty for the inside dope on the wilson/heath era.
robin ramsay's 'smear!' about clockwork orange/wilson is a rollicking read, lots of sources so you check out the theories for yourself. linked in to that: 'spycatcher' (peter wright's self-serving autobiog), 'the big breach' (richard tomlinson's post-bunk hatchet job on mi6... or is it?).
brian glick's 'war at home', jim vander wall & ward churchill's 'cointelpro papers' and 'agents of repression' very good on the political backbone to the fbi, and the counter intelligence programs run against leftist dissidents. south end press rocks for this sort of thing, check out their books on cispes and the sanctuary movement, can't remember the names, google it...
david caute (he of '68' fame, itself a good primer if not terribly detailed or critical) did an excellent 2-essay book on censorship/suppression of dissent, contrasting an african journalist (can't for the life of me remember the details) who picked up major shit, with sarah tisdall, the former civil servant (and now working not a million miles away from this area, trivia fans!) who got landed in the shit by arsehole former guardian editor peter 'i watch me own back, me' preston when she leaked evidence of the thatcher government's lies.
erm, gordon carr's 'the angry brigade' (gollancz, 1975) is pretty durn good. lots of the communiques and ting.
peter hain (yes, that peter hain) wrote an actually rather decent overview on political trials in britain. it may or may not have been called 'political trials in britain'.
the scarman report is always a good read, in a peculiar sort of way.
erm... brain is dissolving, will try and remember more...
robin ramsay's 'smear!' about clockwork orange/wilson is a rollicking read, lots of sources so you check out the theories for yourself. linked in to that: 'spycatcher' (peter wright's self-serving autobiog), 'the big breach' (richard tomlinson's post-bunk hatchet job on mi6... or is it?).
brian glick's 'war at home', jim vander wall & ward churchill's 'cointelpro papers' and 'agents of repression' very good on the political backbone to the fbi, and the counter intelligence programs run against leftist dissidents. south end press rocks for this sort of thing, check out their books on cispes and the sanctuary movement, can't remember the names, google it...
david caute (he of '68' fame, itself a good primer if not terribly detailed or critical) did an excellent 2-essay book on censorship/suppression of dissent, contrasting an african journalist (can't for the life of me remember the details) who picked up major shit, with sarah tisdall, the former civil servant (and now working not a million miles away from this area, trivia fans!) who got landed in the shit by arsehole former guardian editor peter 'i watch me own back, me' preston when she leaked evidence of the thatcher government's lies.
erm, gordon carr's 'the angry brigade' (gollancz, 1975) is pretty durn good. lots of the communiques and ting.
peter hain (yes, that peter hain) wrote an actually rather decent overview on political trials in britain. it may or may not have been called 'political trials in britain'.
the scarman report is always a good read, in a peculiar sort of way.
erm... brain is dissolving, will try and remember more...
Idris2002
Stay Alive in '25
The thread hasn't been added to in a while, so I thought I'd add a new one.
An Accidental Diplomat, Eamon Delaney.
This is a memoir by a member of Irish diplomatic corps, who was Irish consul in New York for a while.
There's quite a bit on Irish-America, and the competing propaganda the Irish and British embassies in the US would put out, but it's interesting because he also worked at the Irish office in the UN during the run up to the first Gulf War. There's a passage where he describes the voting on the resultion for war, and how "if you were the person you once were, or thought you were", you'd stand up and shout stop.
It's more of a library book than anything else (i.e. worth reading if you can get if for free out of a library) but still worth a look.
An Accidental Diplomat, Eamon Delaney.
This is a memoir by a member of Irish diplomatic corps, who was Irish consul in New York for a while.
There's quite a bit on Irish-America, and the competing propaganda the Irish and British embassies in the US would put out, but it's interesting because he also worked at the Irish office in the UN during the run up to the first Gulf War. There's a passage where he describes the voting on the resultion for war, and how "if you were the person you once were, or thought you were", you'd stand up and shout stop.
It's more of a library book than anything else (i.e. worth reading if you can get if for free out of a library) but still worth a look.
Other interesting stuff:
Bobby Seale: Seize the Time
Its a fascinating book about the Black Panthers and where they were coming from.
Eldridge Cleaver: Soul on Ice
Extraordiarily powerful book that I read in the early 70s also about black power.
Please note that these books tend to be sexist! Despite that, they deserve reading for an understanding of black power in the USA.
Bobby Seale: Seize the Time
Its a fascinating book about the Black Panthers and where they were coming from.
Eldridge Cleaver: Soul on Ice
Extraordiarily powerful book that I read in the early 70s also about black power.
Please note that these books tend to be sexist! Despite that, they deserve reading for an understanding of black power in the USA.
our-streets
not talking about burgers
I fancied brushing up on my English history... so I just bought the Morton book - 'People's History of England'.
I understand its indispensible?
I understand its indispensible?
Some which haven't yet been mentioned
1) George Orwell - Down and Out in London and Paris
George Orwell wrote this in 1933. It paints a very bleak portrait of what happens when the state no longer protects those who are weaker in society, making this book essential reading.
2) Bertell Ollman - Alienation: Marx's Conception of Man in a Capitalist society
To date, the most thorough account of Marx's concept of Alienation.
3) Jean Baudrillard - The Gulf War Did Not Take Place
In my opinion, "The Gulf War Did Not Take Place" is as important as Manufacturing Consent concerning the modern media. Relevant to today.
4) Slavoj Zisek - Welcome to The Desert of the Real
Slavoj Zisek applies a revised theory of ideology to the events of September 11. In a similar vain to Jean Baudrillard's "The Spirit of Terrorism".
This is quite a random list. If I have the time I'll post a larger one some other time.
1) George Orwell - Down and Out in London and Paris
George Orwell wrote this in 1933. It paints a very bleak portrait of what happens when the state no longer protects those who are weaker in society, making this book essential reading.
2) Bertell Ollman - Alienation: Marx's Conception of Man in a Capitalist society
To date, the most thorough account of Marx's concept of Alienation.
3) Jean Baudrillard - The Gulf War Did Not Take Place
In my opinion, "The Gulf War Did Not Take Place" is as important as Manufacturing Consent concerning the modern media. Relevant to today.
4) Slavoj Zisek - Welcome to The Desert of the Real
Slavoj Zisek applies a revised theory of ideology to the events of September 11. In a similar vain to Jean Baudrillard's "The Spirit of Terrorism".
This is quite a random list. If I have the time I'll post a larger one some other time.
Excellent book. Also 'On the Blanket' and 'De Valera - Long Man, Long Shadow' by Tim Pat Coogan, 'Ten Men Dead' by David Beresford, 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' by Robert Tressell and 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee', by Dee Brown.
Writing this had made me want to read them all again.
Idris2002
Stay Alive in '25
Brown's book is very good indeed. If you haven't read it, make sure you do so in the very near future.
If you're interested in Irish issues, at some point you're going to have to read Roy Foster's Modern Ireland 1600-1972. It's the single best single volume history of Ireland, doing exactly what it says on the tin.
There's passages where he makes some peculiar choices in my opinion - e.g. the pages where he gushes over the architecture of Georgian Dublin - but he's probably the best of the revisionist generation in Irish history who worked to overturn the received wisdom of previous generations of nationalist historians.
If you're interested in Irish issues, at some point you're going to have to read Roy Foster's Modern Ireland 1600-1972. It's the single best single volume history of Ireland, doing exactly what it says on the tin.
There's passages where he makes some peculiar choices in my opinion - e.g. the pages where he gushes over the architecture of Georgian Dublin - but he's probably the best of the revisionist generation in Irish history who worked to overturn the received wisdom of previous generations of nationalist historians.
nino_savatte
No pasaran!
I found Fianna Fail and Irish Labour by Kieran Allen a particularly good read.
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