Reading list

‘Men of power have no time to read; yet the men who do not read are unfit for power.’ So wrote Michael Foot, who grew up in a house that contained 70,000 books, wrote several himself, and is arguably the most literate British politician ever to have held high office.

I’m sure the Publishers Association would agree with Foot’s assertion (despite its gender bias), which may be why, to mark their quasquicentennial, they canvassed MPs, peers and peeresses for their recommended read for the Summer recess. Sadly, it