Double Down: Game Change 2012, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann

"Double Down picks up the story in the Oval Office, where the president is beset by crises both inherited and unforeseen—facing defiance from his political foes, disenchantment from the voters, disdain from the nation’s powerful money machers, and dysfunction within the West Wing. As 2012 looms, leaders of the Republican Party, salivating over Obama’s political fragility, see a chance to wrest back control of the White House—and the country. So how did the Republicans screw it up? How did Obama survive the onslaught of super PACs and defy the predictions of a one-term presidency? Double Down follows the gaudy carnival of GOP contenders—ambitious and flawed, famous and infamous, charismatic and cartoonish—as Mitt Romney, the straitlaced, can-do, gaffe-prone multimillionaire from Massachusetts, scraped and scratched his way to the nomination."




This is, for me, probably the best book on political action, American politics and campaigns ever written. It's utterly fantastic, and hyperbole-busting stuff, the kind of writing which clutches at you and drags you with it to the finish from the very first page.

With surgical incisiveness Halperin and Heilemann dissect the hows and whys of the 2012 Presidential Campaign, examining in detail the merits and failures of the Republican and Democrat bids for the White House. From the excoriation of the performances on the Right, to the shellacking of Obama's record and position, the book shows how either side could have truimphed, but how the Republicans intransigence and mistakes sank their run and handed Obama the victory.

But rather than just looking at the two candidates and their rivals, the book also examines in depth the teams and outside agents who ran the race, from those in charge of Super PACs, to prominent critics and champions, to the donors, backers and stirrers of modern politics in Washington. Insightful, withering and witty, the book is paced like a thriller and written with a verve and style that belies the seemingly dry subject matter.

So worth reading, I've ordered the first book, chronicling the 2008 campaign, to keep going.

Also Try:
Barack Obama, Audacity of Hope
Molly Ivins, Bushwhacked
Al Franken, Why Not Me?

The Age of Consent, George Monbiot

"A visionary road map for humanity's first global democratic revolution.  All over the planet, the rich get richer while the poor are overtaken by debt and disaster. The world is run by a handful of executives who make the most important of decisions—concerning war, peace, debt, development, and the balance of trade. Without democracy at the global level, the rest of us are left in the dark. George Monbiot shows us how to turn on the light.

Emphasizing not only that things ought to change, but how to change them, Monbiot develops an interlocking set of proposals that mark him as the most realistic utopian of our time. With detailed discussions of what a world parliament might look like, how trade can be organized fairly, and how underdeveloped nations can leverage their debt to obtain real change, Manifesto for a New World Order offers a truly global perspective, a defense of democracy, and an understanding of power and how it might be captured from those unfit to retain it."

Like Captive State this is a brilliant read that will make you so, so mad, although it takes a lot longer to get going and is mired in a slightly confused intent.

Set out as a manifesto for a global democratic institution Monbiot seeks to answer the question of who rules the world, where their authority is derived and how we can change this at an international and global level.

This is the less interesting part of the book, because Monbiot's key strength is in tearing apart the hypocrisy and deceit of the powerful, and nowhere is this clearer than when he turns his attention to the global institutions designed to help the poorest nations. His anger is infectious, in a few short chapters he rips apart the arguments and dissembling and presents a picture of Western culpability and responsibility for global poverty that cuts through the promises and words of politicians and shreds their empty rhetoric.

Like The Bottom Billion it also has some ways in which this can be changed, but again these are secondary to the real meat of the book. As an exposé it's riveting reading, and cherry picking chapters is well worth doing.

Unlike the Bottom Bilion, that isn't the real intent though - it's meant to be a practical means to kick start reasonable global governance, which is a somewhat lofty goal which doesn't seem to have too much backing it up. In fairness Monbiot addresses this problem at length but the conclusion he draws (better to try) doesn't really engender much hope.

Also Try:

www.monbiot.com

George Monbiot, Captive State

Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion

Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto