You should never judge a book by its cover, but that needn't stop us judging a politician by his bookcase. In an exclusive interview published in Weekend magazine, Ed Miliband offers a highly personal insight into his life as the Labour party leader – and a view inside the north London home he shares with his partner, Justine Thornton, and two young children.
One might assume the books on the shelf are a mixture of both their collections, but as the books on view look suspiciously male, and there are next to no women writers, I'm going to call these as mostly Ed's.
The better news is the shelves look unstructured and unplanned. Nothing is in alphabetical order, fiction is mixed in with nonfiction, hardbacks with paperbacks, and there are obvious gaps where books have been removed and not put back. It's the bookcase of someone who actually reads books rather than just has them on display. And one or two titles immediately catch the eye:
1 Libya Handbook Not a political analysis but a travel guide, first published in 2000. So this was almost certainly bought when his former boss, Tony Blair, was smarming up to Gaddafi and there were some good freebies on offer. Could be time to lose this one – or to lend it to William Hague for the next time he plans an adventure there.
2 Rachel Cusk, The Bradshaw Variations The only novel by a woman. Not good, Ed. What would Harriet say?
3 Dave Eggers, What is the What Two copies of the novel based on the real life story of a Sudanese refugee, one in hardback, one in paperback. We've all done it, and it's either a sign of an old favourite and he bought the paperback to re-read on holiday, or it was so forgettable he didn't even know he had it.
4 Dostoevsky, The Idiot Not a guide to dealing with David Cameron at PMQs, but the 19th-century Russian classic. There is no sign of Dostoevsky's other great book, The Brothers Karamazov, about a family in conflict over their inheritance. Curious that.
5 The Independent 1986-2006 Bad move, Ed. What the hell is this doing here? Where's your Bedside Guardian? We'll be charitable for now and assume it was a gift, but you're on a warning.
6 Geoffrey Ashe, The Offbeat Radicals A history of English radicalism and dissent since the French revolution. A history that ended with Tony Blair. Could this book signal a revival under Ed?
7 Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman, NurtureShock (Why Everything We Thought We Knew About Children is Wrong) This 2010 must-read for right-on metropolitan parents of young children suggested allowing teenagers an hour's lie-in daily – can't see that featuring in Labour's education policy.
8 Roberto Unger, False Necessity An 800-page epic described as "a radical alternative to Marxism, showing how we can account for established social arrangements without denying their contingency or our freedom", this is an academic work entirely out of place alongside the rest of the populist nonfiction. If it wasn't for the fact it was published after his father, Ralph, died, you'd have put money on it being nicked from his study. I'd be amazed if Ed has got further than the introduction.
9 Bill Clinton, My Life Even by US presidential standards, this autobiography was overlong and unduly self-serving. This will never be opened again and will just gather dust. It's time for a trip to the charity shop.
10 Nick Hornby, Juliet, Naked Because inside every overachieving, fortysomething career politician, there's a fortysomething everybloke waiting to get out.
Not on the shelves: Anything by Blair, Gordon Brown, Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell. So there is hope …
