Political Insiders

Mike Murphy gives his top five list of books by political insiders.

I'd add:

Churchill by Lord Moran [Controversial, since Moran was Churchill's physician, but fascinating.]

Plunkett of Tammany Hall by William Riordan. [The political observations of George Washington Plunkett, a Tammany Hall ward boss who believed in "honest graft."]

The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat by Ryszard Kapuscinski. [Recollections of the associates of Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. My favorite is: "I was His Most Virtuous Highness's pillow bearer for twenty-six years. I accompanied His Majesty on travels all around the world, and to tell the truth - I say it with pride - His Majesty could not go anywhere without me, since his dignity required that he always take his place on a throne, and he could not sit on a throne without a pillow, and I was the pillow bearer. I had mastered the special protocol of this specialty, and even possessed an extremely useful, expert knowledge: the height of various thrones."]