TPR Recommends... The Coalition Government

Welcome to our first 'TPR Recommends...' - a section for highlighting some of the must-read books if you want to understand a certain topic in politics. This week, we're starting with Britain's coalition government; how it came about, what it's done so far and what we can expect from it in the future.


When a book is published by Palgrave Macmillan, it can mean one/both of two things: it's going to be expensive or it will be too academically focused for most of us to easily engage with. Thankfully, Simon Lee and Matt Beach strike a decent balance for the wallet and the brain in this book, a must read if you want an over-arching view of the priorities and the foci of this government to date. This government is likely to run a lot longer than its first year - if the coalition survives, the next election is set for May 2015 - but as one of the most active governments in living memory, for good or ill, its first year is certainly note-worthy. A top choice. Purchase here.


The 2010 election, encouraged by the three television debates, was perhaps the election when Sky declared its near-parity with the BBC and ITV in media terms. It is perhaps fitting therefore to include a book by two of Sky News' most recognisable faces, Adam Boulton and Joey Jones. In this book, they provide an account of how the coalition came about over the five days of negotiations resulting in David Cameron's walk through the doors of Number 10. The most interesting five-days in May since 1939, some may say, is deserving of something better than Boulton and Jones' account. Yet its accessibility makes it worth a read - although perhaps on the beach rather than in the library... Purchase here.


In the five months leading up to the 2010 General Election, David Cameron and his team decided that "the Big Society" should be the centre-piece of their campaign. However, the political establishment felt it sounded more Orwell than cuddly-Conservatives and the country simply didn't engage with the idea. Despite this, and at times because of this, the Big Society is at the heart of David Cameron's vision for the state, recently undergoing its forth re-launch. Jesse Norman, a Conservative MP of the 2010 intake, provides what is to date the seminal book on the matter. A must read if you want to flesh out the murky depths of the Big Society. So worth a read, in fact, that it will soon form the basis of a TPR review. Purchase here.

Next time, we turn our eyes state-side and discuss the top books to understanding the Obama administration so far and what his first two and a half years mean for his 2012 re-election bid.