Executive editor of Total Politics magazine and editor of So You Want to be a Politician Shane Greer gets Brought to Book.
What is your favourite book and why?
I don’t have a favourite to be honest. When it comes to fiction I like anything by Raymond E. Feist or Robert Ludlum. As for non-fiction, I’m a big fan of Hayek’s Road to Serfdom, Drew Westen’s The Political Brain, Bastiat’s The Law and Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom.
As a child, what was your favourite book and why?
Anything by Raymond E. Feist. But if I had to pick an absolute favourite, I’d have to go with Rise of a Merchant Prince.
What book would you take on holiday this year?
It depends where I’ve got to in my reading list. But Thanksgiving isn’t far away, so I’ll take a punt and say that I’ll bring Alice Schroeder’s The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life (which has been sitting on my bookshelf for far too long).
Do you have a favourite political book/biography?
I don’t have a single favourite. My favourites include those listed above. But to make this a little more interesting I’ll throw in David Plouffe’s Audacity to Win and Joe McGinniss’ The Selling of the President.
Which book published in the last ten years do you think is the most significant?
Significance is relative. But in the world of politics I’d probably go with the Alastair Campbell diaries.
Which literary character would you most like to be and why?
That’s a tough one. But I think I’ll go with Pug (who can be found in almost all the Raymond E. Feist novels). Seriously, who wouldn’t want to be a master magician whose best friend rides a golden dragon?
Shane Greer's So You Want to be a Politician is available from the Biteback website.