Brian Jenner: A Reading List For New Age Tories

David Cameron has said we need it and he’s right. It’s time for an intellectual revival. That means reading some books.

Those books have got to be fun and make being moderately right-wing exciting and socially acceptable. Books that can help members communicate what being a ‘New’ Tory means to friends and neighbours.

The way Conservatives use language and understand the universe has got to shift. Once you get the hang of it, I guarantee your dress sense will improve, you will be more attractive to your desired or existing sexual partner and members of the general public will start saying to you unprompted, ‘We need people like you to turf out that Labour lot.’

Why not pool all the books on this blog which members think are relevant to the culture of ‘Modern’ Conservatism? Stuff which is accessible and stimulates reflection about contemporary society.

I have listed eleven books and one DVD set. Add your own. Purchase them through Conservative Home link for your Christmas stocking which will give Mr Montgomerie some remuneration for his efforts on this site.

The Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck, Arrow, £6.99

Self-help books are incredibly popular, the Conservative ethos is essentially about self-help, ergo, the Conservative Party should understand the genre and the language, and use it. This book challenges some core beliefs and suggests that the purpose of life is not just material self-enrichment but spiritual growth.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Time Warner Books, £7.99

This is popular capitalism. It may be flawed but Tories advocate the ‘Rich Dad’ mentality.

The Rise and Fall of Marks & Spencer by Judi Bevan, Profile Books Ltd, £8.99

This is about the death of paternalistic capitalism. The old hierarchies have collapsed. Globalisation has changed British business and politics.

The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida, Basic Books, £15.95

A theory about how American society is changing: the kind of jobs people do and what their aspirations are. The Memphis Manifesto is popular ‘Localism’. If you want to have a debate about the inner cities it helps to be familiar with the ideas of Robert Putnam and Jane Jacobs. These characters are discussed in the book.

The High Flyer by Susan Howatch, Time Warner Paperbacks, £6.99

Susan Howatch writes about a woman called Carter Graham who unhappy working in a City law firm. The Anglican church has wrestled with the modern world. The Conservative Party has not. Get an insight into how it created a synthesis.

Reggie by Lewis Baston, Sutton, £25

This biography of former Chancellor Reggie Maudling is a cautionary tale for anyone wishing to embark on a career in politics. This book shows there was robust intellectual life in the Tory Party before 1979.

On the Psychology of Military Incompetence by Norman Dixon, by Pimlico, £12.99

Tories have a great respect for the military tradition. We love history. Read this book to get some insight into how the Party became dysfunctional and how it might get better.

Chosen People: The Big Idea That Shaped England and America by Clifford Longley, Hodder & Stoughton, £7.99

When old Tories talk about the nation state, I don’t know what they mean. Sorry. Longley explains the origins of the English spiritual mythology, so beloved of Eurosceptics. It’s not pretty.

Authenticity by David Boyle, Perennial, £8.99

Boyle is a Lib Dem (yikes!). Few thinkers are appreciated in their own party. We should read all his books and steal a lot of his ideas.

Eat the Rich by P.J. O'Rourke, published by Picador, £6.99

A right-winger with panache and a sense of humour.

The Untamed Tongue: A Dissenting Dictionary by Thomas Szasz, Open Court Publishing Company, £25.50

Thomas Szasz is a psychiatrist. Find out what he means by the ‘Therapeutic State’. He is very invigorating. Do a Google on him if you can’t afford the book.

Six Feet Under, Warner Home Video, (Five Series), From £27.99

This American series rubs people’s noses in the modern world. It’s complex and difficult. We’ve got to learn to love a series which ends with the sensitive and intelligent Republican (who aspires to public office) getting the girl.

Comments

[Bobby Lawson]

That reading list is appalling except for the book on Reggie Maudling. It is all tin can commentary and no philosophy or explanation!

I suggest a much better reading list-
The Cash Nexus by Niall Ferguson

Statecraft by Margaret Thatcher

Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic by Robert Gilpin

The Mystery of Capital: Why Captialism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else by Hernando De Soto

Recasting Conservatism, Oekeshott, Strauss and the Response to Post-Modernism by Robert Devigne

Why Globalisation Works by Martin Wolf

The Construction of Nationhood by Adrian Hastings

[Graeme Archer]

Can I add a handful of books that have influenced me?

The first, honestly, is Robert M Pirsig's "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance". I think I picked it up the year I got my bike licence, thinking it would be handy to understand a bit more about the mechanics of the Ninja, or at least learn enough so I could join in the alarmingly technical discussions that bikers have with one another. I usually just stare blankly when men start going on about the "XYZ gasket" and feel a fool. I still do, but reading the book - which I think is about epistemology - made me realise that all the metrics in the world, designed for any business or policy system, will never automatically lead to a system of greater quality. A quality policy is as much about why you want it, and how you develop it, as much as the measures you will use to judge its outputs. In other words, the narrative is just as important as any one outcome. I *think* that's why I am so emotionally affected by the stories we hear from the Inst of Social Justice a lot more than I am by listening to some govt minister wittering on about the New Deal -- it's got nothing to do with my intellectual understanding that the New Deal is a failure in its outcomes.

The second book which changed my life is Peter Urbach and Colin Howson's "Scientific Inference: the Bayesian approach". What you might think is just an elegant treatise that demolishes the classical method of Popper & Fisher is actually the most intellectually honest education about why relativism is not going to go away and needs to be embraced. Most of us are critical realists, in that we believe the universe exists and that we are permitted to make observations about it ... but how do you get from there to making any validifiable claim about it? I'm a Bayesian and this might sound mathematical, but I think the drivers for the subjectivist view of inference are a useful way to explain what I see every day: that people who hold immovable, unshakeable opinions are the least influential and frankly the most unpleasant.

My final offering was one that I reacted against initially -- it's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It can seem somewhat twee to a UK reader, but certain of its instructions I find powerful and useful in any group dialogue, particularly: Begin with the end in mind -- where you want to go is a very powerful influence technique, so take time to set out your vision before commencing the roadmap (this reminds me of David C!); Seek first to understand -- take the time to understand the drivers of your interlocutor, rather than try instantly to beat them into submission with your own rational arguments (a mistake many bloggers make, mea culpa!); and Look for win-wins, rather than simple compromises. This one sounds odd till you try and put it into practice, but it's very effective.

[R UK]

For David Cameron to read if the stress starts getting to him, and sleep comes hard, I recommend any 10 pages out of Adolf Hitler: My part In His Downfall by Gunner Milligan - and sleep will be no problem. If you can laugh your way through a war, you can laugh your way through anything...and sleep! With Cameron at the helm, the rest of us can relax and read whatever catches our attention - let's not get too intellectual....the main truths about life are simple. The one to focus on this Christmas is that the Conservatives are ten points ahead in the polls. We have a superb team up top all pulling together. If it wasn't for Ken Clarke, we'd be in clover.....and he'll be resigning before too much longer. Happy Christmas!!!!!

[Melissa Bean]

A good book to add to the list is "The Tipping Point", by Malcolm Gladwell.

It goes a long way to explaining how social epidemics arise, and made me think a lot how we can "infect" the public with Conservatism in the coming years.

[William Norton]

An interesting list, Mr Jenner. But what if you don’t want to join the New Age? For an alternative Christmas: a reading list for reactionaries (some of which I see have been tipped by others while I've been typing this).

(1) THE VICTORIANS by A N Wilson
Insightful, well-written, thoughtful - and a useful reminder that one century's well-meaning liberal reformers are another century's heartless selfish meddlers.

(2) AGAINST THE ODDS by Peter Bernstein
Good introduction to risk and risk management. Witty account of the origins and underlying theory of modern capitalism.

(Alternatively – FREAKONOMICS by Levitt & Dubner, or perhaps THE TIPPING POINT by Gladwell)

(3) THE CASH NEXUS by Nial Fergusson
Ambitious review of politics, finance, economics, the feelgood factor, etc and the interconnections between them displaying formidable grasp of detail without becoming bogged down. Discover that it isn't the economy, stupid.

(4) EDWARD HEATH by John Campbell
Sympathetic study by non-Tory historian still can't conceal what a bloody disaster the old fool was for the country. Read it to remind yourself why people voted for Maggie.

(5) GULLIVER’S TRAVELS by Jonathan Swift
The last word on human folly in all its modes.

(6) FLASHMAN IN THE GREAT GAME by George Macdonald Fraser
The best of the Flashman books deals with the Indian Mutiny. The perfect antidote to tedious do-gooding political correctness (and irritating jingoists).

(7) THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES by Philip Bobbitt
Yes, it’s them pesky liberals causing trouble again with their damn fool ideas like the UN. This epic enquiry into the nature of the state, war and international law not only explains why we have to go into Iraq (written before the war) but gives you all the arguments you need at your fingertips for the War on Terror. Roll on Tehran 2007!

(8) THE CLASH OF CIVILISATIONS AND THE REMAKING OF WORLD ORDER by Samuel P Huntingdon
A classic study of international relations in an increasingly uncertain world. No, it does NOT say we should nuke all the Muslims. This is the Christmas present to give to anyone who tells you to eat macrobiotic yoghurt. And serve them right.

(9) COLLECTED POEMS by W B Yeats
A great poet at war with his times. Unsound on the Fenian terror, but forgivable.

(10) THE MYTH OF MR BUTSKELL by Scott Kelly
Why the post-war consensus on the economy didn’t exist.

(11) FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE by Ian Fleming
None of that see-the-other-chap’s-point-of-view moral relativism guff. The Reds were the baddies. I know it. You know it. They knew it.

(12) THE ROMAN REVOLUTION by Ronald Syme
More portable than Gibbon, more political than Thucydides, a masterful piece of scholarship which reconstructs the rise to power of Octavian, a young man succeeding an elder statesman to establish a brutal dictatorship under the cloak of moderation. Read this for complete escapism with absolutely no connection whatsoever with today's politics.

[lambo]

There's only 2 'must-reads' for any Tory:

1. Hayek's essay on "why i am not a conservative"

2. Gary Bushell's article in The Sun post Maggie being knifed in 1990 on why she gave him reasons to vote Conservative that did not exist before

[Biodun]

I was about to post, "Right now I am reading 'Why I am not a conservative' by Friedrich Hayek and it's really, really good" and gush a bit more about it.

I **HATE** it when someone beats me to an original post.

[Paul Wakefield]

No proper Conservative reading list could be complete without something by Enoch Powell. Described even by that high priest of the liberal establishment, Hugo Young, as "a brilliant and much misunderstood man" Powell grasped the true nature of Conservatism in this country. He combined towering intellect with rare passion and was a prophet in so many respects.

There are several useful biographies. Heffer is good and I particularly enjoyed Roy Lewis.

Of Powell's own writing, A Nation Not Afraid is excellent. So are Still To Decide and Freedom And Reality. Wrestling With The Angel is a collection of his thinking on religion.

For a wonderful example of Powell's wisdom, read this from 1961:

http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/StGeorg*.html

[David]

Robert Nozick "Against Distributive Justice" and "Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?" are both excellent pieces of philosophy, see the links below to read online although in text is always better I feel. Slightly libertarian though, so balance it off with something more conservative in other ways.

"The Welfare State We're In", "All Must Have Prizes", "Life At The Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass", "The Abolition of Britain" and "The Nanny State".

Also Joseph Schumpeter for his excellent theory of creative destruction in "Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy", which goes well with Nozick's work on intellectuals.

Of course you need a bit of Milton Friedman and Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" on any Conservative reading list. Hayek with "The Road To Serfdom" maybe?

Then finally, soften it off a little bit with "A Blue Tomorrow: New Visions from Modern Conservatives", "Too Nice to be a Tory: It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To" and "From The Ashes: The Future of the Conservative Party".

Oh and don't forget the diaries of Alan Clark.

[Sean Fear]

How about:-

1. Saturn's Children, by Alan Duncan and Dominic Hobson;
2. Lessons of Ulster by Peter Utley;
3. The Road to Serfdom, by Frederick Hayek
4. Families Without Fatherhood, by Norman Denis and A H Halsey,
5. The Wealth and Poverty of Nations by Daniel Landes, and
6. Nero's Heirs, by Alan Massie.

[John Hustings]

"The Welfare State We're In", "All Must Have Prizes", "Life At The Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass", "The Abolition of Britain" and "The Nanny State".

I second these recommendations.

[James Hellyer]

As would I, John. I'd also add "Charles Murray and the Underclass" and "Underclass 10+" (both available as free e-books from Civitas), "A Tory Seer: The Selected Journalism of T.E.Utley", and "Free to Choose" by Milton Friedman.

[Rob]

Clearly Hayek, Friedman and Schumpeter are all important reads. I would also recommend:

In Defence of Global Capitalism by Johan Norberg.

Its the book that convinced me.

(Also if you have the time, its worth reading War and Peace, I am half way through reading it for the second time)

[Selsdon Man]

My suggestions are

Anarchy, State and Utopia by Robert Nozick

Capitalism the Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand.

Socialism by Ludwig Von Mises

The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality by Ludwig von Mises

The Capitalist Manifesto by Andrew Bernstein

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (novel)

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (novel)

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (novel) by Robert Heinlein

There are lots more at laissezfairebooks.com

[Selsdon Man]

I forgot P J O'Rourke's "Republican Party Reptile" that has the best chapter title ever - "How to drive fast on drugs, get your wing-wang squeezed and not spill your drink".

That will upset the jackboot conservatives!

[Selsdon Man]

Since 2005 is the 100th anniversary of Ayn Rand's birth, I should also plug "For the New Intellectual" and the "Virtue of Selfishness". Not for the collectivist Conservative!

[RobC]

What Not to Wear - Trinny and Susannah

[Editor]

An ideal recommendation for Conservative MPs to read before another of their bonding weekends, RobC! Do you remember Stephen Dorrell's jumper?

[Phil Jackson]

... there was robust intellectual life in the Tory Party before 1979.

Indeed there was. It dated back to February,1975. Sorry.

[Chris Barton]

Surley old classics should still be used as the basis of bringing a new intellectual rigour to the party books like On Liberty by J.S. Mill, The Wealth of Nations by smith, the Fable of the Bees by Bernard Mandeville, A Theory of Justice by Rawles all old but all vital components of Conservative philosophy.

[James Maskell]

Just come across Nick Cohen's Pretty Straight Guys for 99p. Snapped it up of course. Sounds pretty good. Any mini reviews from bloggers here?

[Mike Smith]

I haven't read Norman Dixon's On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, but I do recall Brian Jenner referring to it some months ago in a letter he wrote to the Telegraph.

Brian quoted a curious passage from this book, to the effect that that the root cause of military disaster lies in 'Conservative Syndrome' consisting of 'religious intolerance', 'ethnocentrism', 'anti-hedonism' etc.

In fact most successful military leaders from our own Wellington and Montgomery to the entire Prussian General Staff have ranged in their political outlook from ultra-Conservative to out-of-sight reactionary.

Even 'radical' military success stories such as the New Model Army ('anti-hedonism'), the French Revolutionary armies ('intolerance of minority groups') and Trotsky’s Red Army ('punitiveness') are all guilty of one or more of these alleged crimes.

I shall have to read the book to discover which great historical generals conformed to the exacting standards of Political Correctness specified above.

[Jerry]

You are all wasting your time with the books listed so far. What Tory members should read are;

1) Seperate Ways by Peter Shore
2)The Great Deception: Can the European Union Survive by Christopher Booker
3) The Truth They Wont Tell You (And dont Want You To Know About The EU) by Vernon Coleman
4)The Future is A Foreign Country by Matthew Illsley
5) Britain and the EU: Time to Move On by Christopher Hoskin
6)Corruption-The Worlds Big C: Cases, Causes, Consequences, Cures by Ian Senior.
7) Disappearing Britain The EU and the death of local government by Lindsay Jenkins

Perhaps after reading the above the Tory Party faithful with their closed little minds might just about wake up and realise what a horrendous mess Ted Heath got us into and his acolyte David Cameron insists on pursuing.

[James Hellyer]

I wouldn't read anything by Vernon Coleman. The man is a dangerous self-publicist, who's publications include an attack on vaccinations...

[Paul newman]

No no no, well nearly no , one or two exceptions . Most of these lists are clearly the work of philistines albeit inky fingered ones. Not one mention of Janes Austen surely the very finest Conservative writer (and I would recommend Emma in this context). For poetry I would go to the Cavalier poets and think about how the effortless style they cultivate is itself political. I didn’t notice a Rudyard Kipling by the way and either the technical virtuosity of his verse or the seriousness late short stories will serve to remind us how hard it is for the Liberals arts establishment to ignore this undervalued genius.
Thinking about Jane Austen I imagine a querulous character always quoting the latest faddy explanation of Society would only be included only as a comic reflection on the truer Conservative wisdom other characters show . Elizabeth’s pompous little sister would have liked most of your books .

( I will be reading some though )