spring cleaning - with a difference

Spring cleaning is generally a chore but can, if serendipity is in the air, be a pleasure – particularly if the focus of removal is .......books. Space needs to be created in the cluttered shelves if new finds are to have a home…. 
Getting rid of books which had disappointed is the easy part – so no question about recent buys which had let me down – eg Snyder’s The Road to Unfreedom; Euan Davies’ “Post-Truth”; and Craig Oliver’s “Unleashing Demons” although I should probably take another look at Slavoj Zizek’s “The Courage of Hopelessness”, much as his style annoys me. (the last link by the way is to a real skewer of a review by novelist Will Self) which helps direct the book into the reject category…

I also have quite a few titles from the Lonely Planet and Footprint series – particularly France, Italy and Turkey…..but also an enticing couple on India and Andalucia

I thought it would be a simple matter to evict the titles which had been lurking unopened for several years but She Who Must Be Obeyed likes her stock of books about the operation of the EU which go back almost 25 years and includes, for example, Keith Middlemas’ Orchestrating Europe (1995) So reprieve is graciously granted these….

Howard Zinn’s  “A People’s History of the United States” causes a minor twinge as it goes – it is such a good read….Laurence Cosse’s “A Novel Bookstore” and “Eva Luna” are both great novels but don’t fall into the category of books which should be reread    particularly when I still haven’t done justice to the likes of Dostoyevski, Conrad or gone back to reread Aldous Huxley and HG Wells (eg his "The New Machiavelli")

But before I release Paul Mason’s Postcapitalism or John Carey’s The Unexpected Professor – an Oxford Life in Books, I would like a last few minutes with them – providing, that is, they are destined for a good home!! 
A couple of self-help books also could do with a quick skim before they join the haul of a dozen or so books which I will now offer up to friends…

But, as I’ve been carrying out this exercise, I’ve been very aware of how many of the 400 books in my virtual library are also still not properly read – and, more to the point, offer much more powerful reads than most of the titles in bookshops these day…..
So there’s another project for me – it is a matter of a few hours to transfer the url to my blog (uploading any which are no longer available to my website).

The pity, however, is that the world doesn’t know what an amazing resource/library my blog and website is…..Time perhaps for some marketing??

Books which can be immediately downloaded in full – just click on the title (UPDATED)
New Entries

Political Order and Political Decay; Francis Fukuyama (2014). The second volume (which can be downloaded in full!!) of Fukuyama’s magnum opus. Its introduction summarises the first volume – and the opening chapters set out his framework showing the link between economic, social and political development and how ideas about legitimacy have shaped our understanding of the three basic building blocks of “modern” government – “the state”, “rule of law” and “democratic accountability” (see the figure at p43)

This first chapter spells out how very different social conditions and traditions in the various continents have affected the shape and integrity of government systems (The sequencing of bureaucracy and challenge to political power is of particular interest)

Politics and Governance in the UK; Michael Moran (2005) is actually a textbook – aimed at undergraduates - from one of the best UK political scientists whose focus was much wider than most such academics. Somehow such people are clearer writers than those with narrow specialisms. 
Given the breadth of his reading and the originality of his thought, it's ideal reading (even at 500 pages) for a foreign audience 

Original Titles

Against Power Inequalities – reflections on the struggle for inclusive communities; Henry Tam (2010) One of these rare book aimed at activists but written by an academic… Positively inspiring

Capitalism and its Economics – a critical history; Douglas Dowd (2000). The Pluto Press is a rare British leftist publisher which ensures that its titles are clearly written – since it is aiming not at academics but the committed citizen.

The Economics of the 1% - how mainstream economics serves the rich, obscures reality and distorts policy, John Weeks (2014) One of the small bunch of economics titles I strongly recommend

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; Stephen Covey (1989) I have been recommending this book to change-agents since its publication (and often giving a version translated into a foreign language). It is, of course, the sort of self-help book despised by bien-pensants – but, as I say, it’s well worth study….

The Primacy of Politics – social democracy and the making of the 20^th Century;  Sheri Berman (2006)

I’m a despairing social democrat and find it ironic that one of the best treatments of the subject is by an American academic

A Brief History of NeoLiberalism; David Harvey (2005) One of these essential books….a good review is here http://rebels-library.org/files/d3Thompson-1.pdf

The Biographical Dictionary of Dissenting Economists; ed P Arestis (1992) Don’t be deceived by the humble title – this is fascinating stuff…History is, as someone once said, written by the victors. I had heard of few of the almost 100 individuals in this book (although I was taught by 2 – Meek and Nove) but it tells the story of those whose courage deserves to be remembered

How to change the World  - reflections on Marx and Marxism; Eric Hobsbawm (2011) Like most people, I tend to be put off by those who talk about Marx. This is my loss, I readily agree…and Hobsbawm is one of the few people who could persuade me to lift my self-imposed cynicism on the subject….

The Fifth Discipline- the art and practice of the learning organisation; Peter Senge (1990) A seminal book which started a long-lasting fascination with “organizational learning” (personal note - in the 80s I even wrote a master’s thesis on the subject!)
Building the Bridge as you walk on it – a guide for leading change; Robert Quinn (2004) With “Change the World”, one of my all-time favourites. Before attempting the entire book, you might find this summary useful; as well as this excerpt from the first chapter.