Entries from April 2009 ↓

[Happy Easter][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj40KK8hNkE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tom-watson.co.uk%2F&feature=player_embedded[/youtube][Mr Music Canada]

Happy Easter dear friends.

Not content with attacking the NHS as a 60 year mistake, Tory internet-sensation Daniel Hannan has now attacked police chiefs.

“People remember the way the coppers piled in when protesters objected to the hunting ban, yet stood by benignly when other protestors demanded that people who offended Islam be murdered. They note that middle-class people are persecuted for parking on the wrong place or carrying pen-knives, while scoundrels go unmolested. They observe that chief constables seem more interested in installing speed cameras than in recovering stolen goods.”

He says that the prescription is “to place constabularies under locally elected sheriffs. Then, by definition, there would be a realignment of police priorities and public opinion.”

1. Here Comes Everybody: How Change Happens When People Come Together, Clay Shirky
If there is one book you should read to help decode the awesome power of online social networks it is this one. Clay Shirky is the Guru of web 2.0, the King of collaboration. A clear thinker and fine writer.
2. Wasted, Mark Johnson
From cider drinking eight year old through crack-addled homeless thief in his twenties to finally getting clean and living a productive life. Faced with certain death or going into rehab, Mark took the hard option. He lived to write a book that shows us why children need love and that there is such a thing as redemption.
3. Collected Love Poems, Brian Patten
The greatest of Liverpool poets, Brian Patten has collected all of his love poems in one elegant volume.
4. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Robert D. Putnam
A lucid explanation of American social disengagement. Now a classic. And an important contribution to those people who seek to build a better society in a digital age.
5.Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby’s Brain, Sue Gerhardt
Attachment theory meets neuroscience and why cortisol matters. Being a parent is the most important responsibility an adult can take on. And the emotional capacity of a human is literally built in the early years of a child’s life. This book made me a less productive politician but hopefully, a better dad.
6. Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow’s polemical tale of youngsters who mess too far with the tooled-up surveillance state. Yes, it does leave you thinking about the world but it’s also a good read with a decent plot.
7. The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester
The story of the Philological Society and the 70 years it took to complete the greatest lexical enterprise in history. I often use the book to illustrate how technological advance has made the world a faster place – just compare the making of the OED to wikipedia.
8. Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, David West Reynolds
Great visuals and excellent detail. OK, it’s really for uber star wars geeks but it helps you impress young children.
9. CauseWired: Plugging in, Getting Involved, Changing the World. Tom Watson
My namesake from New York has produced a best selling book explaining how voluntary organisations, charities and pressure groups can harness the power of digital tools and social networks.
10. Trust: Self-Interest and the Common Good, Marek Kohn
Popular philosopher asks “what does trust look like?” Trust, of course, is the holy grail of the political classes which is why I was attracted to the book. As Kohn says, trust ‘has the gift of warming the heart and dissolving its tensions’
11. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery
The unusual residents of a French apartment block find happiness in their own way. An underground literary phenomenon, Muriel Barbery paints a beautiful portrait of French society and all it’s contradictions.
12. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, Charlene Li
This book was recommended to me by Oli Barrett of Daily Networker fame. Groundswell – “a sudden gathering of force, or public opinion” and how organisations can understand and harness it in our digital world. Though the book contains a lot of managment-speak it is very interesting.
13. All Politics Is Local, Tip O’Neil
I’ve read this book 20 times over. The percolated wisdom of a lifetime in politics from the old political master, Tip O’Neil. Memorise names. Tip well. Never get introduced at sporting events. Great advice that has never let me down.
14. Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith, Mark E. Smith
Mark E. Smith: Great writer and poet crafts more jagged lines to talk about himself and his favourite pub. Unmissable book from a true Northern icon.
15. Mudslingers: The Twenty-five Dirtiest Political Campaigns of All Time, Kerwin Swint
These campaigns make Liberal Democrats look like angels. To author Kerwin Swint, the dirtiest American campaign of all time was George Wallace vs Albert Brewer in the 1970 Democratic primary for Governor of Alabama. Wallace was supposed to have been openly racist and nicknamed his opponent “Sissy Britches”. Mr Swint goes back to 1800 to chronicle the contest between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams for control of the White House – finally settled on the floor of the House.
16. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Alexander Solzhenitsyn
I read this book in preparation for workers memorial day. The story is set in a Soviet labour camp and describes a day in the life of an ordinary prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. The book was the first account of Stalinist repression that was openly distributed in the USSR and is a landmark of the time.
17. Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly‘s book was my first introduction to the world of geeks and was given to me by a well know elder of the internet. A better reviewer than me wrote of the book “We have the choice of a small number of large machines, or a large number of small machines: ‘swarm’ systems. The advantages of swarm systems is that they are adaptable, evolvable, resilient, boundless, full of novelty. But, they are non-optimal (they have multiple goals, and can only ‘satifice’, not optimise, all of them), non-controllable, non-predictable, non-understandable, non-immediate (they need to be ‘grown’, not ‘switched on’): they are out of control.” Great stuff.
18. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck depicts the lives of ordinary people striving to preserve their humanity in the face of social and economic desperation. It’s a portrait of the bitter conflict between the powerful and the powerless. It shows a man’s fierce reaction to injustice and of a woman’s calm strength and quiet suffering. One of the great works of literature to portray the Great Depression.
19. Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better, Gina Trapani
Great ways to “hack” your way to greater efficiency. If you’ve ever stared at a computer screen and wondered how you could possibly clear your email inbox, this is the book for you.
20. Huey Long, T. Harry Williams
A largely respectful biography of one of the most interesting and controversial US politicians in history. Huey Long had a great campaigning style. Innovative use of direct mail, automobile stumping, radio speeches, sound trucks, and negative campaigning through the use cruel personal invective. “Share our wealth” was his message, designed to appeal to that part of the populace that wasn’t sitting in the halls and offices of power.
21. Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, Don Tapscott
How mass-collaboration and open-source can help make an organisation successful. Openness, Peering, Sharing and Acting Globally are the four ideas explored in this thought changing book. It was the first I read when promoted to the Cabinet Office.
22. Tested Advertising Methods, John Caples
The greatest book ever written about how to write adverts, without exception.
23. Siddhartha,Herman Hesse
I first read Siddartha in my twenties but it has more relevance now I’m in my forties. We’re all on our own journey.
24. Killing Rage, Eamon Collins
I’ve been reading this book for over two years as I can only stomach it in small chunks. Eamon Collins was an IRA intelligence officer and planned the killing of a number of people. His account of casual violence, cruelty and cold blooded murder is as chilling as it is depressing.
25. The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide, Alan Bedford
What can I say? I want to be a hero to my son.