Labour 2017 Reading List

Labour have fought one of the most impressive campaigns under Jeremy Corbyn as leader, gaining 29 seats in an election that has changed the political landscape of Britain. Here we present a list of books that look at the history of the Labour party and the wider political context that has led to this moment.

Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics by Richard Seymour

The Extreme Centre: A Warning by Tariq Ali

Private Island: Why Britain now Belongs to Someone Else by James Meek

A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain by Owen Hatherley

The Ministry of Nostalgia: Consuming Austerity by Owen Hatherley

Cultural Capital: The Rise and Fall of Creative Britain by Robert Hewison

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones

State of Insecurity: Government of the Precarious by Isabell Lorey. Foreword by Judith Butler

The End of Parliamentary Socialism: From New Left to New Labour by Colin Leys and Leo Panitch

The Hard Road to Renewal: Thatcherism and the Crisis of the Left by Stuart Hall

The Enemy Within: The Secret War Against the Miners by Seumas Milne

Parliament, People and Power: Agenda for a Free Society by Tony Benn 

The Revenge of History: The Battle for the 21st Century by Seumas Milne

Ruling the Void: The Hollowing of Western Democracy by Peter Mair

Class War Conservatism and Other Essays by Ralph Miliband

Meltdown: The End of the Age of Greed by Paul Mason

A New Labour Nightmare: The Return of the Awkward Squad by Andrew Murray 

Politics in a Time of Crisis: Podemos and the Future of Democracy in Europe by Pablo Iglesias

Against the Troika: Crisis and Austerity in the Eurozone by Heiner Flassback and Costas Lapavitsas

Working Class Politics in Crisis: Essays on Labour and the State by Leo Panitch

NHS plc: The Privatisation of Our Health Care by Allyson M. Pollock

Faces of Labour: The Inside Story by Andy McSmith

John Smith: Playing the Long Game by Andy McSmith

Labourism and the English Genius: The Strange Decay of Labour England? by Gregory Elliott

English Questions by Perry Anderson

Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams

The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the new Sunni Revolution by Patrick Cockburn

Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move by Reece Jones

Outsider in the White House by Bernie Sanders with Huck Gutman

The ABCs of Socialism edited by Bhaskar Sunkara

The Verso Book of Dissent: Revolutionary Words from Three Millennia of Rebellion and Resistance edited by Andrew Hsiao and Audrea Lim. Preface by Tariq Ali