Best Political Books | 10 Best Political Books You Need to Read

1. The Politics

Author : Aristotle

Man is naturally a political animal” is it possible for a state to achieve the ideal state of governance, one that creates utmost happiness for its citizens? Are we right in considering democracy as the best form of government? In fact, why have a government at all? Aristotle answers these questions, and many more, in his treatise the politics. Beginning with a discussion on the purpose of a city, the book lays before the readers The inner workings of the political system of Greece’s city-states, offering an insightful but sympathetic study of their faulty governance, and brilliantly comments on how far they are from the ideal government Aristotle describes in the beginning of the book. The politics is a ground-breaking work, drawn from one of the best intellectual minds, and remains a significant text in the history of political thought.

2. India After Gandhi

Author : Ramachandra Guha

Ramachandra Guha’s India after Gandhi is a magisterial account of the pains, struggles, humiliations and glories of the world’s largest and least likely democracy. A riveting chronicle of the often brutal conflicts that have rocked a giant nation, and of the extraordinary individuals and institutions who held it together, it established itself as a classic when it was first published in 2007.

In the last decade, India has witnessed, among other things, two general elections; the fall of the Congress and the rise of Narendra Modi; a major anti-corruption movement; more violence against women, Dalits, and religious minorities; a wave of prosperity for some but the persistence of poverty for others; comparative peace in Nagaland but greater discontent in Kashmir than ever before. This tenth anniversary edition, revised and expanded, brings the narrative up to the present.

Published to coincide with seventy years of the country’s independence, this definitive history of modern India is the work of one of the world’s finest scholars at the height of his powers."

3. Political Mysteries

Author : K. R. Malkani

The author, Mr. K.R. Malkani. Through this book, explains various political issues which had drastic effects on the world. Who hatched the conspiracy of killing Mahatma Gandhi? How the former prime minister of India. Lal Bahadur Shastri died in suspicious circumstances1 under what mysterious circumstances was Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya murdered? Why were me Kashmir princess and kanishka blown up? Likewise, there are many other issues with which the author has desk. These are the result of five years of his painstaking research that this book has tuned out to be an excellent source of information about various political assassinations as well mysterious happenings.

4. Indian Polity

Author : M. Laxmikanth

The book "Indian Polity", 6th edition is a must-read for the aspirants appearing for the Civil Services examinations as well as the other State Services examinations. It is conceived to cater to the requirements of not just students appearing for competitive examinations but also postgraduates, research scholars, academics and general readers who are interested in the country’s political, civil and constitutional issues. The extant chapters have been thoroughly revised and updated as per the recent developments.

5. Your Prime Minister is Dead

Author : Anuj Dhar

When Lalita Shastri saw her husband’s body, it did not appear he had been dead only a few hours. His face was dark bluish and swollen. The body was bloated and it bore strange cut marks. The sheets, pillows and the clothes were all soaked in blood. As the family members raised doubts, suddenly sandal paste was smeared on Lal Bahadur Shastri’s face. And yet, the controversy whether or not India’s second prime minister’s death was really due to a heart attack, couldn’t be contained. Allegations of the KGB’s, the CIA’s or an insider’s hand in the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri emerged in time

In this first-ever comprehensive study of the enduring Shastri death mystery, Anuj Dhar puts together a disturbing narrative going against the official version. Dhar’s bestselling book "India’s biggest cover-up" inspired declassification of the Subhas Chandra Bose files and hit web series "Bose: Dead/Alive

6. An Introduction to Political Theory

Author : O.P. Gauba

This new edition of an introduction of political theory examines a fairly wide range of issues concerning the ever-expanding field of political theory in a multidisciplinary (historical - sociological - economic - philosophical - juristic) perspective. It elaborates the nature and significance of political theory, concept of ideology with a concise and critical discussion of major political ideologies, nature of politics and various approaches to its study including empirical, normative, behavioural, post-behavioural as well as interdisciplinary approach. It elucidates the concepts of the state and sovereignty with reference to the challenges of imperialism, neo-colonialism, impact of globalisation, grounds and limits of political obligation, various dimensions, of law, power, citizenship, human rights, liberty (including creative freedom), equality (including equality of opportunity), justice (including social justice) and the common good.

7. The Communist Manifesto by Marx, Karl, Engels, Friedrich New Edition

Author : Friedrich Engels

Manifesto of the Communist Party (German: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), often referred to as The Communist Manifesto, was first published on February 21, 1848, and is one of the world's most influential political manuscripts. Commissioned by the Communist League and written by communist theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, it laid out the League's purposes and program. The Manifesto suggested a course of action for a proletarian (working class) revolution to overthrow the bourgeois social order and to eventually bring about a classless and stateless society, and the abolition of private property.

8. Capital (Das Capital)

Author : Karl Marx

“Money is the alienated essence of man’s labor and life;
and this alien essence dominates him as he worships it.”
From the concepts of commodities and money, surplus-value of labor, the accumulation of capital and its process of circulation, to the conversion of surplus value into profit and transformation of surplus-profit into ground rent, Karl Marx’s Capital presents his theory of the capitalist system.
Regarded as a significant work of the modern economic thought, this magnum opus is a comprehensive critique on the political economy. This edition contains all the three volumes of the Capital. Out of the three, only the first volume was published by Marx during his lifetime. the remaining two were prepared by Friedrich Engels using Marx’s notes.
Capital has been translated into all the major languages and the influential theories of Marx continue to acquire readership throughout the world.

9. A History of Political Thought: Plato to Marx

Author : Mukherjee

This book presents a study in political tradition from the times of Pluto to Marx. It starts from the oldest known political thought provided by ancient philosophers of Greece like Plato and Aris-totle. It goes on to Renaissance thinkers like Machiavelli from Italy. From the 18th century we get the political views of Hegel, up to the political thoughts of Marx, we get an overview and changes in the political thoughts down the ages.

10. 1984

Author : George Orwell

Published in the summer of 1949, George Orwell’s nineteen Eighty-Four is one of the most definitive texts of modern literature. Set in Oceania, one of the three inter-continental superstate that divided the world among themselves after a global war, Orwell’s masterful critique of the political structures of the time, works itself out through the story of Winston Smith, a man caught in the webs of a dystopian future, and his clandestine love affair with Julia, a young woman he meets during the course of his work for the government. As much as it is an entertaining read, nineteen Eighty-Four is also a brilliant, and more importantly, a timeless satirical attack on the social and political structures of the world.