Book Reviews

In this section of the blog you can read reviews of all the latest books relevant to British politics and policy. Each Sunday we publish a review originating from the LSE Review of Books, aiming to cover a wide range of academic and non-academic books on all aspects of public policy and politics. Whether you’re interested in Benjamin Disraeli’s influence on David Cameron’s policies, the inside story of the Miliband Labour leadership battle, or the history of women in British politics since the 1700s, you’re sure to find all the essential information on these pages. Scroll down to browse the archive.

If you’d like to read more reviews of academic titles from across the social sciences, visit our sister blog, the LSE Review of Books. And if you’re interested in writing a review for the blog or if you would like to see your book reviewed here, please contact our our book reviews editor Amy Mollett at lsereviewofbooks@lse.ac.uk.

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Book Review | After Extinction

Book Review | After Extinction

What comes after extinction? In After Extinction, editor Richard Grusin brings together contributors to address this question by considering extinction within cultural, artistic, media and biological debates. This is a timely contribution to contemporary discussions regarding the future of our planet, writes Anda Pleniceanu, that will leave readers with a renewed perspective on the relevance of the humanities to understanding our […]

January 12th, 2020|Book Reviews, Featured|0 Comments|

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Book Review | Footsoldiers: Political Party Membership in the 21st Century

Book Review | Footsoldiers: Political Party Membership in the 21st Century

Although tens of millions of adults turn out to vote at UK general elections having decided which party’s policies and leaders they prefer, very few of them join those parties, let alone actively participate in and promote them. Who are those few, why do they join and what do they do? Ron Johnston reviews the latest book reporting on […]

January 5th, 2020|Book Reviews, Featured|0 Comments|

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Book Review | Cameron: The Politics of Modernisation and Manipulation

Book Review | Cameron: The Politics of Modernisation and Manipulation

In Cameron: The Politics of Modernisation and Manipulation, Timothy Heppell offers a new analysis of David Cameron’s leadership of the Conservative party (2005-16) and of the UK, organised around the key themes of modernisation and manipulation. In his admirably objective study, drawing on compendious reading of relevant sources, Heppell demonstrates that while Cameron’s attempts to ‘de-toxify’ his party are important […]

December 29th, 2019|Book Reviews, Featured|0 Comments|

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Book Review | Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It

Book Review | Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It

In Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It, Heather Boushey offers an almost encyclopaedic account of inequality’s impact on the US economy, focusing on the way in which inequality obstructs, subverts and distorts. While this is a valuable compilation of the growing evidence that inequality is damaging the US economy, Liam Kennedy argues that the book neglects […]

November 24th, 2019|Book Reviews, Featured|0 Comments|

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Book Review | What Works Now? Evidence-informed Policy and Practice

Book Review | What Works Now? Evidence-informed Policy and Practice

In What Works Now? Evidence-informed Policy and Practice, Annette Boaz, Huw Davies, Alec Fraser and Sandra Nutley offer both a synthesis and critique of the rapidly evolving field of evidence-informed policy and practice. William Solesbury praises the timeliness, breadth and clarity of the collection.
What Works Now? Evidence-informed Policy and Practice. Annette Boaz, Huw Davies, Alec Fraser and Sandra Nutley (eds). Policy Press. 2019. […]

November 10th, 2019|Book Reviews, Featured|1 Comment|

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Book Review | Gender and Queer Perspectives on Brexit

Book Review | Gender and Queer Perspectives on Brexit

In Gender and Queer Perspectives on Brexit, editors Moira Dustin, Nuno Ferreira and Susan Millns bring together contributors to offer explicitly feminist and queer approaches to Brexit that broaden the scope of theoretical and policy debates. This is an important collection that tells a different story of the possible implications of Brexit, writes Toni Haastrup.
If you are interested in this review. you can […]

November 3rd, 2019|Book Reviews, Featured|0 Comments|

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Book Review | Charles Booth’s London Poverty Maps

Book Review | Charles Booth’s London Poverty Maps

Charles Booth’s London Poverty Maps, by London School of Economics and Mary S. Morgan et al, offers a sumptuously illustrated, large format publication of Charles Booth’s project, which resulted in two series of maps that created a detailed chromatic coding of London’s patterns of life and labour in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The book provides an […]

October 27th, 2019|Book Reviews, Featured|0 Comments|

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Book Review | The Northumbrians: North-East England and its People by Dan Jackson

Book Review | The Northumbrians: North-East England and its People by Dan Jackson

In The Northumbrians: North-East England and its People, Dan Jackson offers a welcome new history of the North East, demonstrating how many aspects of its culture grew out of centuries of border warfare and industry. In showing that the North East was innovative, resourceful and enlightened, as well as dangerous, poverty-stricken and exhausted, this deeply researched book reveals the compelling past of […]

October 20th, 2019|Book Reviews, Featured|0 Comments|