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Books to improve Politics

AATTMM

11

I just did AS Gov/Pol. Can anyone suggest any books to improve my knowledge of politics for A2 - text books etc.

Reply 1

ThornsnRoses

11

The Political Animal by Jeremy Paxman :biggrin:

Reply 2

RyanW

I'm reading "The Political Animal" at the moment and personally wouldn't encourage you to read it if you do not have a sound grounding in at least the basics of politics. If you do though, then it is a terrific read.

Are you planning to study Politics at university?

If you want any advice on political books pm me. I read quite a few.

Reply 3

*Hythlodaeus*

5

What exam board are you with? I do OCR so there is a unit on American politics which I've just bought a couple of textbooks on. In class we use the 'Philip Allan Updates' textbook on US and Comparative Politics which are pretty good for the basics. But if you know the basics start getting some set text books for degree level on introduction to.. such as comparative politics.

Reply 4

currency_westlake

If you're doing British Politics then you have to read 'Servants of the People' by Andrew Rawnsley. It's the bible of post-97 British politics, which is especially useful as lots of the exams now ask soley about the New Labour period.

Reply 5

lizzylou

Comparative Government and Politics by Hague (It's yellow and I got it in Blackwell's if that helps!) I've just bought it and it looks really good.

Also, try any of Nick Cohen's books for UK Politics - they're quite fun.

I'd steer clear of Michael Moore though - his arguments are often not very well thought out. This is not to say that I agree or disagree with him. I just feel that his writing style is somewhat manipulative and works off emotion rather than logic, so it's not really my cup of tea.

Other than that, I've been alternating between the Grauniad/Indie (my papers of choice) and the Telegraph, so that I get both sides of the coin. It's quite a cunning strategy. Nothing can shake me from the Obs on Sunday though! :smile:

Reply 6

AATTMM

OP

11

I'm on AQA. I'm alright at politics, I'm just not very good. I want to get a head start for next year.

Reply 7

Bhaal85

9

AATTMM

I just did AS Gov/Pol. Can anyone suggest any books to improve my knowledge of politics for A2 - text books etc.

Sun Tzu - Art Of War.

Reply 8

Dajo123

Any books about great philosophers such as Socrates and Plato

Reply 9

Imagashead

1

AATTMM

I just did AS Gov/Pol. Can anyone suggest any books to improve my knowledge of politics for A2 - text books etc.

I read OUP's Very Short Introduction to Northern Ireland for the NI bit of unit 4 Edexcel and OUP's Very Short Intro. to the European Union for unit 5. Both prooved very useful, and some knowledge I'd gained from reading them was certainly used in exams.

Reply 10

krow1209

For US or Comparative politics, I found these books an absolute lifesaver for A2:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0719067219/qid=1091314394/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-0371598-6450862

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0719060745/qid=1091314394/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-0371598-6450862

I think that you can probably get a cheap second-hand copy on Amazon - check out the links above.

The Philip Allan AS Question and answer book is useful since it has some model answers in it:

Reply 11

krow1209

i'll just put the link in for the AS Q&A book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0860037746/ref=pd_sim_b_dp_1/026-0371598-6450862

I think that there are a couple of cheaper versions in the second-hand section of the Amazon website.

Reply 12

StarBlueUK

2

Try books by Neil MacNaughton (or however you spell it!). He's the head examiner for Edexcel and has written pretty good stuff. Also, Bill Jones has written good stuff.