Enjoyed this! Persuaded me not to bother with the Moses doorstop/bludgeon. Wd be interested to hear thoughts on Caro’s LBJ - have only read vol.ii myself.
For bureaucracy, esp SW1, read about Maurice Hankey the first Cabinet Secretary & Thomas Jones, asst to Cab Sec but really a “fluid” (his word) person in govt. Both brought in 1916 by Lloyd George & outlast him: TJ retired in 1931, Hankey in 1938. Stephen Roskill’s 3 vol biography (1970-74) “Man of Secrets” of Hankey remains tops. John Naylor’s single volume “A Man and An Institution” (1984) also very good. TJ’s “Whitehall diaries (3 vols)” are highly informative but hard to get a hold of. A chapter of my undergrad diss is dedicated to Lloyd George & reforming cabinet govt, these figures being foundational.
PS - Dream Machine is a great read. Dealers of Lightning on Xerox PARC is also v good
Other Cummings recommendations on bureacracies and organisations (though I haven't read any of these)
- On Amazon: Working backwards
-On Jean Monet: his autobiography and "The First Statesman of Interdependence" by Francois Duchenne
- On Bismarck: Otto Pflanze's biography
I also liked Dwarkesh's post on the Caro LBJ books [https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/lyndon-johnson] though I think I disagree with Dwarkesh's Straussian reading that Caro's is sortof intentionally trying to train someone else on how to acquire power in the US
Enjoyed this! Persuaded me not to bother with the Moses doorstop/bludgeon. Wd be interested to hear thoughts on Caro’s LBJ - have only read vol.ii myself.
For bureaucracy, esp SW1, read about Maurice Hankey the first Cabinet Secretary & Thomas Jones, asst to Cab Sec but really a “fluid” (his word) person in govt. Both brought in 1916 by Lloyd George & outlast him: TJ retired in 1931, Hankey in 1938. Stephen Roskill’s 3 vol biography (1970-74) “Man of Secrets” of Hankey remains tops. John Naylor’s single volume “A Man and An Institution” (1984) also very good. TJ’s “Whitehall diaries (3 vols)” are highly informative but hard to get a hold of. A chapter of my undergrad diss is dedicated to Lloyd George & reforming cabinet govt, these figures being foundational.
PS - Dream Machine is a great read. Dealers of Lightning on Xerox PARC is also v good
Other Cummings recommendations on bureacracies and organisations (though I haven't read any of these)
- On Amazon: Working backwards
-On Jean Monet: his autobiography and "The First Statesman of Interdependence" by Francois Duchenne
- On Bismarck: Otto Pflanze's biography
I also liked Dwarkesh's post on the Caro LBJ books [https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/lyndon-johnson] though I think I disagree with Dwarkesh's Straussian reading that Caro's is sortof intentionally trying to train someone else on how to acquire power in the US