How can a country be captured by rumours, surreal conspiracy theories and the most brazen of conmen? The historian Richard Hofstadter asked these questions in the 1960s, amid fears of rising extremism in America. Yet his dazzling dissection of the paranoid worldview – a brew of overheated exaggeration, suspicion and perceived victimhood that can derail entire nations – is a lesson for the ages in the seductive politics of the irrational.

In an era where we ourselves feel assailed by endless paranoid public statements it is comforting to read Hofstadter’s incisive refusal to see these as something new. In his discussion of famous and obscure untruths, some of which have profoundly impacted American domestic and foreign policy, he provides the antidote for the present day.

‘The Paranoid Style in American Politics’ was first published as an essay in Harper’s Magazine in late 1964 and has been argued over ever since.

'A timely reminder of the quiet dedication and skill of the people who work every day to make this country work' – Barack Obama, President Obama's 2025 Summer Reads

The government is a vast, complex system that citizens pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It’s also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it’s made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone.

Michael Lewis invited his favourite writers to find someone doing an interesting job for the government and write about them. The stories they found are unexpected, riveting, and inspiring, including a former coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse, saving thousands of lives; an IRS agent straight out of a crime thriller; and the manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organization, public or private, in the entire country. Each essay shines a spotlight on the essential behind-the-scenes work of exemplary federal employees.

Whether they’re digitizing archives, chasing down cybercriminals, or discovering new planets, these public servants are committed to their work and universally reluctant to take credit. Who is Government? shows how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.

Leading Harvard historian Jill Lepore captures the stories of generations of ordinary people who have attempted everything from abolishing the Electoral College to guaranteeing environmental rights, hoping to mend their nation. Recounting the history of America through centuries of efforts to realize the promise of the Constitution, we witness how nearly all those bids have failed.

We the People is the sweeping account of a struggle, arguing that the Constitution was never intended to be preserved, but was expected to be gradually altered. At a time when the risk of political violence is all too real, it hints at the prospects for a better, amended America.

‘A well-paced, thorough and often (darkly) humorous account of the two-year campaign season that began when Donald Trump announced he was running for president again . . . Thrilling.’ New York Times

The most definitive, deeply researched and authoritative account of the most tumultuous election in US history.

In 2024, Donald Trump made a political comeback on a scale that stunned the world. How did the first US president to become a convicted felon regain control of the White House? And at what cost?

Here, three award-winning reporters bring us the definitive and explosive account of how Trump and his advisers overcame a dozen primary challengers, four indictments, two assassination attempts, and his own past mistakes to defeat the Democrats. It is a damning and revelatory inside account of an election that tested American democracy – and which has already transformed the future of the free world.

‘The most well-sourced and judiciously written reporting from the campaign that you will find . . . 2024 is the best book of its kind I have read.’ Philip Collins, Observer

‘By speaking to insiders on all sides of the debate, it lifts the lid on the near misses, fatal errors and lucky saves that led to the situation today.’ Katy Balls, The Times

‘From Baghdad to number 11 Downing Street: in any other country it would be fiction. You have to read it to believe it’ Jeffrey Archer

An Observer Book of the Week

Born and raised in Baghdad, Nadhim Zahawi arrived in the UK aged 12, having been forced to flee Iraq with his family, under threat from Saddam Hussein’s regime.

In this candid and thoughtful memoir, Nadhim vividly recalls his upbringing in the Middle East, his family’s adjustment to their new life in Britain and his rise to Second Lord of the Treasury, one of the highest offices in his adoptive homeland.

From his family home being repossessed in his teens to the incredible success of YouGov, and from the highs (and lows) of Jeffrey Archer’s mayoral campaign to overseeing Britain’s rollout as Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment, Nadhim reflects on the setbacks faced and hurdles cleared that have reinforced his belief in the power of hard work and the benefits of an open, inclusive society.

The Boy from Baghdad is the full and fascinating story of Nadhim’s personal, professional and political journey from Waziriyah to Westminster.

5 PRIME MINISTERS

THE PARTY IS OVER

After decades in the hands of malevolent players and two years of disastrous leadership, the Conservative party stands at the edge of the abyss.

From the humiliation of Liz Truss’s 49-day premiership to the shameful, self-serving drift of Rishi Sunak’s time in office, Downfall is the story of a political party on the verge of extinction.

Picking up on the events that followed The Plot, Nadine Dorries draws on interviews with those in the room to expose what really went on behind the scenes. From group sex sessions organised via WhatsApp, to the King being stood up at the Privy Council and the real reason why Rishi Sunak left the D-Day celebrations early, the accounts are raw, unvarnished and brutal. Everything is worse than it seems.

The next leader will hold the future of the party in his or her hands, and with outside forces resisting change, the challenge will be as enormous as it will be difficult. But the painful truth is that the party deserves to be where it is – and nothing can stay the same.

With unparalleled access to the people who were actually in the room and who will speak to Nadine with a frankness with which they would never speak to a journalist, Downfall promises to be THE political book of 2024.

The government is a vast, complex system that citizens pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It’s also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it’s made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone.

Michael Lewis invited his favourite writers to find someone doing an interesting job for the government and write about them. The stories they found are unexpected, riveting, and inspiring, including a former coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse, saving thousands of lives; an IRS agent straight out of a crime thriller; and the manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organization, public or private, in the entire country. Each essay shines a spotlight on the essential behind-the-scenes work of exemplary federal employees.

Whether they’re digitizing archives, chasing down cybercriminals, or discovering new planets, these public servants are committed to their work and universally reluctant to take credit. Who is Government? shows how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.

5 PRIME MINISTERS

THE PARTY IS OVER

After decades in the hands of malevolent players and two years of disastrous leadership, the Conservative party stands at the edge of the abyss.

From the humiliation of Liz Truss’s 49-day premiership to the shameful, self-serving drift of Rishi Sunak’s time in office, Downfall is the story of a political party on the verge of extinction.

Picking up on the events that followed The Plot, Nadine Dorries draws on interviews with those in the room to expose what really went on behind the scenes. From group sex sessions organised via WhatsApp, to the King being stood up at the Privy Council and the real reason why Rishi Sunak left the D-Day celebrations early, the accounts are raw, unvarnished and brutal. Everything is worse than it seems.

The next leader will hold the future of the party in his or her hands, and with outside forces resisting change, the challenge will be as enormous as it will be difficult. But the painful truth is that the party deserves to be where it is – and nothing can stay the same.

With unparalleled access to the people who were actually in the room and who will speak to Nadine with a frankness with which they would never speak to a journalist, Downfall promises to be THE political book of 2024.

The Sunday Times Politics Book of the Year

A Guardian Politics Book of the Year 2023

‘An insightful and at times riotously entertaining account of the lengthy rise and abrupt fall of Britain’s 56th Prime Minister. What was intended as a prologue to her premiership is now a riveting political obituary in which every page drips with the seeds of both triumph and disaster. Cole and Heale have produced a meticulously reported account of Truss’s drive, impulsiveness, eccentricity and ideological certainty which reads like a warning from history. It has elements of tragedy but is frequently very, very funny.’ Tim Shipman

‘Make sure you put your seat belt on. Heale and Cole put you in the passenger seat of the fastest car crash in recent political history. It’s an unmissable romp through Liz Truss’s long journey to the top, fuelled by ambition and espresso. The clues that foretold the extraordinary catastrophe are all there, as the authors reveal in gory detail how Liz Truss nearly had the last laugh, before finally, as her government imploded, the joke was on her.’ Laura Kuenssberg

Despite being written off and mocked by even her closest colleagues, Liz Truss slowly but determinedly achieved her goal of taking over 10 Downing Street – only to instantly plunge her administration into chaos and announce her resignation after a record-breaking 44 days. How did she do it? And what exactly went so wrong?

With unrivalled access and insight, award-winning political journalists Harry Cole and James Heale provide the answers, drawing on interviews with Truss’s friends and supporters, as well as her worst critics and rivals, from Kwasi Kwarteng to Michael Gove.

Tracking Truss’s transformation from geeky teenage Lib Dem to Tory PM, with the inside scoop on her first – and only – month in office, Out of the Blue is the unmissable behind-the-scenes account of Britain’s shortest-serving Prime Minister.