We asked writers and thinkers associated with Blue Labour for their reading suggestions for lockdown. The choices both reflect the strange circumstances we now find ourselves in and provide the intellectual and cultural backdrop to the wider politics of Blue Labour. The fifth selection in this series is by Paul Embery.

You can read the first selection, by Jonathan Rutherford, here. The second selection, by Tobias Phibbs, here. The third selection, by Jack Hutchison, here. The fourth selection, by Liam Stokes, here. And the final selection, by Maurice Glasman, here.

As a Francophile, I am cheered by Penguin’s decision (even though I have only just learned of it, some years after the event) to republish every book – 75 in all – in the Maigret series by Georges Simenon, all with fresh translations. Brought to life on screen in Britain by actors such as Michael Gambon and more latterly Rowan Atkinson, the terse, pipe-smoking detective made his literary entrance in the 1931 novella, Pietr the Latvian. A tale of international crime gangs, hitmen and familial love and revenge, all set against the backdrop of inter-war Paris, from its most luxurious hotels to its seediest corners, it’s a short but enjoyable ride (though tainted by a faint whiff of anti-semitism in the early chapters).

Back this side of the Channel, A Shropshire Lad by AE Housman is a handsome little ode to a bygone England. The collection of 63 poems is laced with pathos as Housman recalls a vanished world that he knows cannot be recovered. Touching on themes of love and loss, war and patriotism, the poems are sometimes short and simple, but no less profound and intense for that.

Onto politics, then, where former Labour heavyweight Bryan Gould (now living back in his native New Zealand) has published Myths, Politicians and Money, a scholarly and searing critique of the global economy. Gould, a relentless and longstanding critic of the EU, explains how the intensification of neoliberal globalisation has not only brought deepening inequalities, but also subverted democracy, as multinationals use their vast influence to bully and coerce elected governments into adopting policies favourable to the wealthy minority. As the case for a protective state and national economy reasserts itself in the fall-out from Covid-19, these questions are more relevant than ever.

I wear different political colours to Nick Timothy, but Remaking One Nation is worthy of the closest inspection by anyone trying to understand what lies behind the convulsions that have bedevilled British politics over recent years. Timothy’s excellent book exposes how the embrace of what he terms ‘ultra-liberalism’ by the elites of both Left and Right has undermined social solidarity and left millions feeling unrepresented. Timothy’s conservatism is hostile to neoliberalism, untrammelled markets and austerity, and is instead one much more rooted in a ‘civic capitalism’ that takes account of the value of community, place and belonging. Only through delivering deeper economic justice and greater social and cultural cohesion will we begin to address the divisions that have opened up. This book should be read widely, including – indeed, particularly – by those on the Left.  

Finally, lockdown seemed a fitting time to re-read a book I first read some years ago: Independent People by Halldór Laxness. Set in the bleak landscape of Laxness’ native Iceland in the years leading up to, and including, the first world war, this epic tale centres on the life of husband and father Bjartur of Summerhouses. A humble sheep farmer, he struggles to achieve financial independence for his family in the face of the unforgiving elements and economic exploitation. It is a story of resilience and self-pride, defiance and self-sacrifice. Laxness, labelled by some as the ‘Tolstoy of the North’, was a Nobel prize winner of literature. The book was majestically translated into English in 1945 by JA Thompson, an obscure academic from Northumberland who spent several years of his life labouring on the project. That hardly anyone interested in English literature has ever heard of Thompson is a tragedy, and when you read the book you will understand why. Truly a masterpiece, and my favourite book of all time.