'Albion! Albion!' by Dick Morland

'Albion! Albion!' is an excellent example of SF reflecting the anxieties of the time it was written. Published in 1974, when Britain was the 'sick man of Europe', and England had a global reputation for 'the English Disease' - violent football hooliganism - the novel asks, 'How much worse could this get?'

England in the 90s, a dark and desolate place. Football Hooligans have overthrown the government and divided England into four territories controlled by the Four Clubs. The economy has continued to decline, 'slum clearance has given way to slum creation', and violence is everywhere.

The story itself is a fairly uninspiring journey through this dystopian/post-apocalyptic England.

The characters are so bland that it was easy to forget who they were. When a character from early on shows up in a later chapter, in a way that was supposed to be a dramatic reveal, I genuinely couldn't remember who he was.

The plot veers from simplistic journey to wildly overcomplicated political drama over the course of a single chapter halfway through. The character explaining everything even remarks, "It is over-complex, isn't it?"

The book is primarily enjoyable as an interesting historical piece which has some resonance to today, with its reflections on political tribalism and isolationism. Published in 1974, between Britain joining the EEC in 1973 and the first membership referendum in 1975, anxieties about Britain's post-imperial future and its relationship with Europe hang in the background throughout the novel.

Can a country accustomed to beating up other nations abroad work together as part of Europe? If not, who can it turned to? America, also an international pariah, is England's only friend - and America is far from trustworthy.

'The Prince' by Machiavelli

So, I read Machiavelli (1469-1527).

Through real politicians and fictional villains, Machiavelli's influence on culture is huge. This is a fascinating little book, more nuanced than I expected from Machiavillian pop culture villains, but still a rather bleak book of realpolitik.

'Many writers have dreamed up republics and kingdoms that bear no resemblance to experience and never existed in reality; there is such a gap between how people actually live and how they ought to live that anyone who declines to behave as people do, in order to behave as they should, is schooling himself for catastrophe: if you always want to play the good man in a world where most people are not good, you'll end up badly.'

There are a number of passages that resonate with contemporary debates over fiscal policy. Machiavelli recommends tax cuts rather than public spending: tax cuts can make you appear generous to those you are taking less from, while those that receive less from you as a result are a minority who's goodwill can be sacrificed to boost your popularity among those benefitting from the tax cuts.

You can't please everyone.

'If a ruler can't avoid hatred altogether, he must try to avoid the hatred of the country as a whole, and when that proves impossible he must do everything he can to escape the hatred of the classes that wield the most power.'

And don't forget that we want to reward hard work and aspiration: 'A ruler must show that he admires achievement in others... he should reassure his subjects that they can go about their business without worrying that if they increase their wealth they'll be in danger of having it taken away from them, or that if they start up a business they'll be punitively taxed.'

This Penguin edition has an excellent introduction that puts the book in historical context, and a surprisingly fascinating discussion on the difficulties of translating the work into contemporary English.

'No Such Thing As Society' by Andy McSmith

A good overview of things that happened in Britain in the 80s, but more of a collection of reflective essays on certain topics rather than a proper history: for that, I expect we'll just have to wait until Dominic Sandbrook covers these years in his series of massive tomes.

As I was reading, it felt like the events described were in dialogue with the news, giving them extra resonance.

Learning about Princess Diana's travails while the Harry and Meghan interview was breaking news was a weird experience. As was learning about the Yorkshire Ripper - and the misogyny of the police and the press response - in the aftermath of the Sarah Everard vigil.

Events all have a incomprehendable mass of historical context behind them.

"History isn’t just something that happened in the past, but a juggernaut with faulty brakes which is intent on mowing you down.” - Nicola Barker