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Books to add in my PS for International Relations

I'm currently writing my personal statement for International Relations and am looking at some very competitive universities. I know you need to have mentioned some IR books you have read, so does anyone have any recommendations as to what books I should mention that would really impress the universities? Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

melisa121

Heey, could you pm message me if you find out any good books :smile:

thank you x

Reply 2

Mr Porter

Don't you feel this whole book hoop-jumping is so vacuous? I mean, once upon a time, I imagine, an enthusiastic student who liked to read around their subject decided to put a book, of many, they had read into their personal statement. But nowadays everything is backwards: you have students who are only 'reading around/showing their interests' in order to get into university. It completely defeats the point of this whole 'books' idea. It really bugs me. :colonhash:

Not to completely leave OP empty-handed, some popular books by Kissinger (old-school though), Schelling, Waltz are oft read ones by applicants. Equally, most of the political non-fiction that they sell in bookshops these days are viable reads. But you want something 'impressive'? Well it's hard to impress when you're so vague with what you are interested in. Something impressive would be perhaps a not widely read, niche book on a topic you are passionate about - and if you are really passionate, then you wouldn't need to ask us for a recommendation.

No doubt you are a wonderfully bright applicant, and deserve to study in those competitive universities, and you'll have the best relations internationally; I just wish we didn't live in a system where people think they are obliged to pick books to get into a course.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 3

mrandmr.crane

Not sure whether or not this'll impress, but I'm reading 'International Relations: Theories and approaches' by Robert Jackson and George Sorensen, and it's very good! It's a great introductory text - well-written and really interesting. :biggrin:

I borrowed it from my college library, but it should be available on Amazon or anywhere like that. Maybe you could talk about any theory in the book that interested you and why?

Even if you choose not to put it in your statement, I really recommend it! :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

Tasha1986

Hi there. I don't think anyone can really recommend anything to you until we know what your interests in politics and international relations are. Is there a particular issue, like poverty, or human trafficking, or conflict resolution, that you find particularly interesting? Is there a conflict that you want to know more about - Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, the Syrian civil war?

Admissions tutors read thousands of personal statements and they know a check-box personal statement when they see one. They will be able to tell if you are including a book in your personal statement because you think you are supposed to include a list of books to impress them, or whether you've read and included a book because of a genuine interest in its subject matter.

Other check-box reading examples include Time, The Economist, National Geographic, etc. They just scream "Look! I care about the subject, honest! I've got subscriptions to some magazines!".

If you could let us know what your interests are then we can give you some suggestions.