On August 6, the British dailies
The Times and The Scotsman published a survey of 180
Members of Parliament with the top 10 books British legislators are reading this
summer. The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy by Walid Phares
was listed as 9th on the list. Harry Potter and the Daethly Hallows by JK
Rowling was listed as number 3, followed by Gordon Brown by Tom Bower and the
Blair Years by Alastair Campbell. This was reconfirmed by the BBC and later by
the Telegraph on August 8. 
Tories take Gordon Brown away with them on holiday
A survey of MPs' summer reading habits has revealed that the Conservatives are swotting up on Gordon Brown, while Labour politicians are questioning the existence of God.
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister, a biography by Tom Bower, is a popular choice for Tories, while The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and Alastair Campbell's The Blair Years are proving to be must-reads for Labour MPs. Lib Dem politicians have preferred to opt for J. K. Rowling's latest, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
The information comes from a survey of 180 MPs by Waterstone's. William Hague, the former Tory leader, will be flattered to learn that William Wilberforce, his biography of the anti-slavery campaigner, is the most popular all-party choice.
And the most popular author proved to be the former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown, with three titles selected by MPs (The Ashdown Diaries, Contemporary Conflict Resolution and Swords and Ploughshares: Building Peace in the 21st Century).
Other choices include literary classics (Don Quixote, Pride and Prejudice, Vanity Fair), the environment (Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth) and Islamic fundamentalism (The Islamist by Ed Husain and The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy by Walid Phares).
The TelegraphTories 'swot up' on Brown this summerAugust 8, 2007 Last Updated: 2:14am BST 07/08/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/06/ntory106.xml **** The Scotsman Chapter and verse on MPs' summer reading habitsANITA SINGH
August 6, 2007
A SURVEY of MPs' summer reading habits has revealed that the Tories are swotting up on Gordon Brown - while Labour politicians are questioning the existence of God. A biography of the new Prime Minister by Tom Bower is among the most popular book choices in the Conservative ranks. Top choice for Labour politicians is The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, with Alastair Campbell's The Blair Years also proving a must-read. Their Liberal Democrat counterparts, meanwhile, prefer to curl up with the latest Harry Potter adventure. Waterstone's, the book chain, asked 180 MPs what they planned to read during their summer break. William Hague, the former Conservative Party leader, will be flattered to learn that his biography of anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce is the most popular all-party choice. Other choices included classics such as Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, environmental subjects such as Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and Islam The Islamist by Ed Husain and The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy by Walid Phares. THE TOP TEN BOOKS1. William Wilberforce: The Life of the Great Anti-Slave Trade Campaigner - William Hague 2. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
4. Gordon Brown - Tom Bower 5. The Blair Years - Alastair Campbell 6. Michael Foot: A Life - Kenneth O Morgan 7. Sir Robert Peel: A Biography - Douglas Hurd 8. The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy - Walid Phares 9. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday 10. Restless - William Boyd http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1227142007 =============================================================================
The God Delusion, by atheist Richard
Dawkins, has been named by Labour MPs as their favourite holiday read.
Tory MPs are more likely to have their noses
buried in Tom Bower's biography of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
But William Hague's biography of
anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce was their top choice.
Liberal Democrat MPs also plan to plough
through The God Delusion and Mr Hague's Wilberforce biography - but will also be
picking up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, according to the survey of 180
MPs by bookseller Waterstones.
And Conservative MPs will be dipping into a
biography of Sir Robert Peel by former Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd, according
to the survey.
The most popular author was former Liberal
Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, with three titles selected (The Ashdown Diaries,
Contemporary Conflict Resolution and Swords and Ploughshares: Building Peace in
the 21st Century).
Other choices included classics such as Don
Quixote, Pride and Prejudice, and Vanity Fair, as well as the recent book by
former US vice president Al Gore on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.
Among politicians from the three main
parties, books by Mr Hague, Mr Dawkins and Ms Rowling were the most popular.
Also in the top 10 were Mr Bower's biography
of the prime minister and The Blair Years, Alastair Campbell's account of his
time as Downing Street's spin doctor.
Michael Foot: A Life by Kenneth O Morgan,
Lord Hurd's biography and and The War of
Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy by Walid Phares were also going to be read by
MPs on holiday.
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
and Restless by William Boyd also made the top
10. ============================================================================ Jul 31, 2007
(The Politico) High school students aren't
the only ones heading to the beach this August with a hefty bag of books they
probably won't read.
Republican Reps. Thaddeus G. McCotter of Michigan and Zach Wamp of Tennessee are recommending six books -- and a movie, "Islam vs. Islamists" -- to their GOP cohorts for the August recess. They're all on foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on Islam. And it's not exactly beach reading. This is the duo's third list in two years. And they have included books critical of the administration, including "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, a portrait of U.S. mismanagement in Iraq after the invasion. "We don't want to protect sacred cows," Wamp said. "This is not Republican propaganda for Republicans' sake." The latest list: -- "Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America" by Walid Phares, a critically acclaimed 288-page overview of the four major strains of radical Islam and their strategies to take down the United States. -- "The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy," another Phares title in which the former Justice Department official offers a brief overview of the ideological divide between the fundamentalist Islamic world and the United States and the rest of the capitalist global community. -- "China: The Gathering Threat" by Constantine Menges, in which the former CIA official suggests a potential nuclear showdown with the People's Republic within the next four years. -- "The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West and the Future of the Holy City" by Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations who documents the 3,000-year history of the city and its contemporary role in a global standoff. -- "Epicenter: Why Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future" by Joel C. Rosenberg, an evangelical Christian novelist who explores the impact of various conflicts in the Middle East on everyday life in the West in his first work of nonfiction. -- "The General in His Labyrinth" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a fictional portrait of Simon Bolivar's last days in decline, lamenting the lost power that once made him such a prominent figure. Like I said, not exactly Danielle Steel. But something tells me Wamp and McCotter aren't expecting book reports (500 words, double-spaced, etc.) from their Republican colleagues, either. Copyright 2007 POLITICO ============================================================================= |
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THE HILL
January 31, 2007
House GOP summer reading is not exactly beach ready
Reps. Zack Wamp (R-Tenn.) and Thaddeus
McCotter (R-Mich.) sent out a joint "dear colleague" letter to their caucus
last week with a helpful summer reading list.
We don't want to give away
the endings for the six tomes that made the list, but here's a hint: Don't
expect them to lighten your mood.
The list is largely focused on the
history of conflict in the Middle East, and includes Walid Phares's "Future Jihad: Terrorist
Strategies Against America" and Dore Gold's "The Fight for
Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West and the Future of the Holy
City."
Wamp, who said
he tends to read about 200 pages per flight, hasn’t been able to carve out the
time to read any lighter fare. McCotter, however, did add one novel to the list:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "The General in his Labyrinth."
That book
tells the story of a once-revered South American politician, whose power and
popularity have both dried up. McCotter's office did not respond to questions
about whether the novel's hero reminded him of anyone we might know.
Albert Eisele contributed to this page.
http://thehill.com/under-the-dome/so-this-is-going-to-be-kind-of-awkward...-2007-07-31.html