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A review by kamau_wairuri
Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics by Michael Ignatieff
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
4.0
I became aware of this book a few year ago but never really got round to reading it. It remained on my ‘to read’ list for a while. Then one day earlier this year I saw it in a shop and I was not going to leave it behind.
Why? For a scholar who harbours interest in electoral politics, it is perhaps the best example of someone moving from the lecture hall to the campaign trail. Ignatieff describes his effort here as an analytical memoir rather than an autobiography and I think that’s apt.
In this book, Prof Ignatieff explores his own background (coming from a political family), his intellectual life (renowned professor of human rights at Harvard), and his return to Canada to run for political office in the hope of becoming prime minister. He became MP and party leader but never Prime Minister.
It’s is a great thing that Ignatieff is a scholar and analyst. He draws out very meaningful lessons from his encounters in the political arena.
One of the most crucial things he points out is that the people who succeed in politics are not successful by chance; they know their trade. People often denigrate politician while in reality, no matter what we tend to believe, most of us cannot do what they do. He says, “what a good politician comes to know about a country can’t be found in a briefing book. What he knows is the way the people shape place and place shapes people.” He also notes the obstacles, for instance, when he observes that ‘politicians have to negotiate trust against the backdrop of permanent dislike of their own profession.”
I know that these are the experiences of a man from a far away land with very different experiences from us. Still, I’m keeping this book close — highlights, underlines and scribbles — to go back to again and again, especially if I ever decide to throw my hat in the ring and seek political office in the days to come. It not, it’ll make for good talking points in bars, the streets and classrooms.
Why? For a scholar who harbours interest in electoral politics, it is perhaps the best example of someone moving from the lecture hall to the campaign trail. Ignatieff describes his effort here as an analytical memoir rather than an autobiography and I think that’s apt.
In this book, Prof Ignatieff explores his own background (coming from a political family), his intellectual life (renowned professor of human rights at Harvard), and his return to Canada to run for political office in the hope of becoming prime minister. He became MP and party leader but never Prime Minister.
It’s is a great thing that Ignatieff is a scholar and analyst. He draws out very meaningful lessons from his encounters in the political arena.
One of the most crucial things he points out is that the people who succeed in politics are not successful by chance; they know their trade. People often denigrate politician while in reality, no matter what we tend to believe, most of us cannot do what they do. He says, “what a good politician comes to know about a country can’t be found in a briefing book. What he knows is the way the people shape place and place shapes people.” He also notes the obstacles, for instance, when he observes that ‘politicians have to negotiate trust against the backdrop of permanent dislike of their own profession.”
I know that these are the experiences of a man from a far away land with very different experiences from us. Still, I’m keeping this book close — highlights, underlines and scribbles — to go back to again and again, especially if I ever decide to throw my hat in the ring and seek political office in the days to come. It not, it’ll make for good talking points in bars, the streets and classrooms.