What political books are an absolute must-read for DUers?

[canetoad]

42. From 1989

The original (and the best) - House of Cards by Michael Dobbs.

From the author's website:

The idea for a novel based around the dark political arts came to me shortly after the 1987 general election campaign, which had been particularly bruising. Margaret Thatcher won that election but made many enemies while doing so – too many, I thought. It inspired me to begin work on a plot – entirely fictional, of course – to get rid of a Prime Minister. The book was dramatised by the BBC, and in the very week it was first broadcast Margaret was forced out of Downing Street. It seemed almost impossible, but she was gone. Fact had overtaken Fiction.
http://www.michaeldobbs.com/house-of-cards/