The politician and former chancellor chooses five favourite books. He will be speaking about his book “Can We Be Great Again?” at the St Andrew’s Book Festival in London on 25 November.
Peak Human
Johan Norberg, 2025
If you’re worried that Western civilisation and democracy is in decline, this is for you – in fact, it’s the best book I have read this year. Johan Norberg looks at civilisations from Athens to the Anglosphere, and traces the reasons for their rise and fall. His conclusion: all is not lost.
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Super Agers
Eric Topol, 2025
Eric Topol is my favourite American doctor, and has given me superb advice on many occasions. His latest book looks scientifically at all the diseases that cause ageing, from heart disease to cancer to dementia – and exactly what the latest clinical trials say works and does not work. For someone like me who is turning 60 next year, it was unputdownable!
Broken Threads
Mishal Husain, 2024
Not every broadcaster can write – but Mishal Husain certainly can. This is a beautiful account of the impact of partition in India on both branches of her family, setting their painstakingly researched stories against the backdrop of deep historical currents.
How Countries Go Broke
Ray Dalio, 2025
A book about something no one wants to talk about, but should: our looming debt crisis. In surprisingly readable prose, Ray Dalio explains why we should all be terrified of what is around the corner. As someone who has made his billions building up the world’s largest hedge fund, he knows his stuff.
The Optimist
Keach Hagey, 2025
Finally, a book on the forthcoming AI revolution. A biography of Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, the company that gave us ChatGPT, which has become something of an addiction for me (try asking it your life expectancy). Worth reading for a window on where we are going, through the eyes of one of the most powerful people in the world.
Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop
