You can see why MPs want to read about him. He is widely seen as an intense, enigmatic figure of strong Christian faith who survived long spells in hospital to go on and make a historic contribution to British and indeed world politics. A hotly debated war and conflict with the French may have delayed but did not stop the pursuit of his ambition, and his emphasis on seriousness, sobriety and morality won him public acclaim.
But strangely Tom Bower's biography of Gordon Brown is only third on the list of Conservative MPs' favourite holiday reading. Instead, they have plumped for William Wilberforce: The Life of the Great Anti-Slave Trade Campaigner by one of their own, William Hague. Maybe it's a bit late for them to be reading Bower, by far the most critical of the mainly hagiographic tomes on our new leader. Robert Peston's Brown's Britain would offer more balance.
Hague, however, is a neat choice. By most accounts extremely well written, as Hague books tend to be (he came second on the list two years beaten by the Da Vinci Code), it might actually be a pleasurable read. And it does no harm to an ambitious young backbencher to mention it in passing to the shadow foreign secretary when MPs return from recess in October.
The Tories' second choice, Sir Robert Peel: A Biography, by Douglas Hurd, is probably taking things a little too far; Lord Hurd he may have been an actual foreign secretary but his most influential political days are behind him.
Holiday reading is tricky for the political class; so are holidays full stop. Do you use them to give your brain a rest from politics, read a novel or something else inappropriate? Or do you catch up on those works that you just haven't got time for during normal business?
Labour MPs who are having a crack at The Blair Years (third in their list) by Alastair Campbell fall into the latter category. Having read most of it twice -- first at high speed on day of publication, second at more leisurely pace in the fortnight afterwards -- I can vouch that it repays proper reading, short on policy but with plently of insight and many laughs (for instance, our dear ex-prime minister wearing nothing but a crash helmet and underpants while he impersonates members of the Japanese government). Switching-off material it is not, however. And for haven't they read it already?
Labour MPs' favourite holiday read is The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, the heretics. Where is that Mr Blair now to make them see the light? Maybe more of them will be saying this at the beginning of the break than at the end.
Liberal Democrats hedge their bets by picking Hague first, Dawkins second and -- bless, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling, the last instalment of the fantasy tale where nice guys don't come third.
