Kamala Harris cares too much about being nice
The presidential candidate’s new book, 107 Days, shows a lack of curiosity about what voters want
ByPolitics books
Find the New Statesman’s latest politics book reviews and our curated lists featuring the best writing on politics.
Whigs and Tories shaped modern Britain
George Owers’s new book about the two-party political system is rich in history – but it misses one vital detail.
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Nicola Sturgeon is finally free
In her new memoir, Scotland’s former first minister reckons with the failures and pain of a career in politics –…
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Jacinda Ardern’s unexamined life
In her memoir, the former prime minister seems more concerned with the symbols of politics than the actual politics the prompted…
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Giorgia Meloni’s selective memory
The Italian prime minister’s autobiography revises her and her country’s history. But Meloni’s success is a template for right populist…
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“There is no such thing as Starmerism”
An account of the Labour Party’s rise to power presents the PM as a man with a deep aversion to…
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The end of the old world order
Robert D Kaplan argues that in a time of uncertainty, we must resist radical change. But these cautionary tales are…
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Kevin Roberts’s fire-breathing American right
In his book Dawn’s Early Light, the architect of Project 2025 preaches the necessity of burning Washington’s “elite” institutions to…
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The atrocity exhibition
Over a single night in 2015, terrorists killed 130 people in Paris. In Emmanuel Carrère’s account of the ensuing trial,…
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How Labour won – and how they could lose in 2029
New books by Anushka Asthana and Michael Ashcroft show that the lessons of 2024 are sobering for both parties.
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Myths of the great statesmen
New studies of Winston Churchill and Harold Wilson show the rewards and perils of political biography.
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Jess Phillips wants to cut the crap
The Labour MP’s third book, Let’s Be Honest, is a powerful, blunt and cathartic takedown of everything wrong with our…
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The rise of JD Vance – from hillbilly to Capitol Hill
His memoir Hillbilly Elegy was a bestseller; now he’s a Trumpist with political ambitions. Is James David Vance the future…
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Taiwan at the edge of chaos
The island is a playground for the imperial ambitions of China and the US – and its future is far…
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Westminster’s downward spiral
Boris Johnson and his court brought an already corrupt system to new lows. Can ethics be restored to politics?
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Britain’s new oligarchy
Tom Burgis’s Cuckooland shows how the power to shape our politics is available to the highest bidder.
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In praise of sluggish politics
Deliberation and reversals are democracy’s great virtues, writes Jonathan White. But can it keep pace with a world in crisis?
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The dictator’s best friend
From Mussolini to Mao, autocrats have often turned to writers to tighten their grip on power.
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What is Labour for?
Two new books show that a century after it formed its first government, the party is once again wrestling with…
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The white heat of politics
Thirteen years of Tory rule, a season of scandal and Labour on the rise – the hectic Britain of 1963…
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