Synopsis: A thematically arranged collection of Hendrik Hertzberg’s political essays for the New Yorker and the New Republic stretching from the mid-1960s to the end of the Bush Era. Reading political journalism with the benefit of hindsight is fun!
My Take: Hendrik Hertzberg is like an over-sized red-velvet armchair in the corner of The New Yorker’s [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Politics'
“Politics: Observations and Arguments, 1966-2004″, Hendrick Hertzberg
August 19th, 2009 · No Comments · American, History, Non-Fiction, Politics
Tags:Hendrick Hertzberg
“We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families”, Philip Gourevitch
July 21st, 2009 · 1 Comment · African, History, Non-Fiction, Policy, Politics
Synopsis: Philip Gourevitch, a staff writer for The New Yorker spends two years travelling in Rwanda in 1995-97 and produces an illuminating, if not always objectively rigorous, account of the Rwandan genocide, its causes and its aftermath.
My Take: Philip Gourevitch’s account of the collective insanity of late 20th century Rwanda is a moving account.
Not simply [...]
Tags:Philip Gourevitch
“All Too Human: A Political Education”, George Stephanopoulos
July 13th, 2009 · No Comments · American, Non-Fiction, Politics, biography
Synopsis: One time choir boy, Rhodes Scholar and Dukakis operative pens a first person account of the experience of being a senior staffer for the Clinton campaign and subsequently presidency. Honest, insightful and controversial.
My Take: The best book ever written by a political insider. Odds are, that if you ask someone who has spent [...]
“Make Gentle The Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy”, Maxwell Taylor Kennedy
July 9th, 2009 · 1 Comment · American, History, Non-Fiction, Politics, Quotes, The Kennedys
Synopsis: A collection of the words that Robert Kennedy used to move others, and the words of others that moved Robert Kennedy.
My Take: Compiled by RFK’s ninth child (!), “Make Gentle The Life of This World” is a delicious combination of extracts from Robert Kennedy’s own speeches and a selection of passages from a daybook [...]
"Scoop", Evelyn Waugh
July 7th, 2009 · No Comments · English, Fiction, Literature, Politics
Synopsis: A case of mistaken identity results in the pastoralist nature writer for the London tabloid, The Daily Beast, being sent as a foreign correspondent to cover a brewing Communist insurrection in the fictional African state of Ishmaelia. Satire that makes ‘Frontline’ look like a loving homage to the media.
My Take: Bitchiness like this can [...]
Tags:Evelyn Waugh
"RFK Funeral Train", Paul Fusco
July 1st, 2009 · No Comments · American, Art, History, Politics, The Kennedys
Synopsis: Photo-journalist Paul Fusco presents a collection of his photographs from the carriage of Robert F. Kennedy’s funeral train.
My Take: Bobby is a bit of a political hero of mine. He was pilloried as a ruthless political operative in life and is revered as an inspirational idealist in death. He combined compassion and pragmatism in [...]
Tags:Paul Fusco·RFK·Robert Kennedy
“Words that Work: It’s not what you say, It’s what people hear”, Frank Luntz
June 29th, 2009 · No Comments · American, Non-Fiction, Politics
Synopsis: Politics is about voters, not politicians. It’s not what politicians say, it’s what voters hear.
My Take: Frank Luntz has an impressive CV. An Oxford University PHD, Luntz rose to prominence as the chief pollster for Ross Perot’s outsider presidential bid in 1992. After providing polling for Rudy Giuliani’s successful NYC mayoral campaign, Luntz then [...]
Tags:Frank Luntz
“The Blair Years”, Alastair Campbell”
June 27th, 2009 · No Comments · English, History, Non-Fiction, Policy, Politics
Synopsis: Tony Blair’s Director of Communications and general master of the dark arts tells (almost) all about The Blair Years.
My Take: Ordinarily I steer clear of political biographies (diaries in particular!) but beore I moved to the UK I thought I needed a bit of a crash course in the who’s who of the Party [...]
Tags:Alastair Campbell
"Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes", Mark Penn
June 26th, 2009 · No Comments · American, ICT, Non-Fiction, Over-Rated, Politics
Synopsis: In/famous Clinton pollster, Burson-Marsteller CEO and Bowser look alike claims that small-scale, niche trends, identifiable through statistical analysis, are the key drivers for societal change. A long bow, stretched WAY too far for its own good.
My Take: Love him or hate him (and let’s face it, most people hate him these days), Mark Penn [...]
Tags:Mark Penn
"Shut Up and Listen and You Might Learn Something", Edna Carew and Patrick Cook
June 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Australian, Non-Fiction, Politics, Quotes
Synopsis: The bite and bile of the greatest Treasurer Australia has ever had.
My Take: Published in 1990, this collection of Keating quotations comes from the golden era of PJK. The period before he became PM and was forced to moderate (at least to some extent) his more extreme instincts for public, rhetorical bloodshed.
Most of the [...]