{"product_id":"9780717158089","title":"Paddy Machiavelli - How to Get Ahead in Irish Politics: An Entertaining and Irreverent History of Irish Politicians","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe good, the bad and the cynical – how to get ahead in Irish politics\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt might appear strange that a 16th-century Italian political philosopher should provide us with a roadmap to political power in Ireland, but as John Drennan’s tongue-in-cheek account \u003ci\u003ePaddy Machiavelli\u003c\/i\u003e makes clear, the gap between the parish pump and the Renaissance palazzo is a narrow one indeed. In fact, observe the Irish body politic for long enough and the lines between the Florentine’s faceless hero and our own Dáil aristocrats begin to blur ever so slightly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA veteran of countless Leinster House power plays, Drennan takes inspiration from Machiavelli’s \u003ci\u003eThe Prince\u003c\/i\u003e, dispensing invaluable advice for the aspiring politician, such as how to cultivate the cloak of being an ‘ordinary decent skin’, how to choose your scapegoats carefully, and how to be a straight-talker whilst embracing vagueness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis hilarious account of the compromises that the Irish politician has to make in order to seize power is not just a ‘celebration’ of the politics of cynical amorality; it’s a timely reminder of the role we play in choosing our leaders.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this wildly entertaining book, celebrated \u003ci\u003eSunday Independent\u003c\/i\u003e columnist John Drennan is at his best.  The definitive guide to success in Irish politics, \u003ci\u003ePaddy Machiavelli\u003c\/i\u003e will have you laughing and crying all the way to the ballot box.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003ci\u003eDrennan’s storytelling style is stage Irish, and like a culchie Cicero, he laces his brilliance with bile. It is the politics of Paddy and in the tradition of \u003c\/i\u003eHall’s Pictorial Weekly\u003ci\u003e via Craggy Island\u003c\/i\u003e.’\u003cbr\u003eGerard Howlin, \u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003ci\u003eThere is a fierce intelligence and fierce independence at work here. No one escapes his gimlet eye, and he brings to the whole bizarre ecosystem of the Dáil a unique perspective, that of the insider who remains resolutely outside.\u003c\/i\u003e’\u003cbr\u003eBrendan O'Connor, \u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003ci\u003eIf Paddy really wants to know the story, generally he asks Drennan first.\u003c\/i\u003e’\u003cbr\u003eLise Hand, \u003ci\u003eIrish Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003ci\u003eDrennan is one of the best pundits in Ireland. He has an understanding of politics that is both instinctive and intellectual.\u003c\/i\u003e’\u003cbr\u003ePat Leahy, \u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Business Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e‘[Drennan] reads the political game like the sort of bookie who always leaves Cheltenham with a full satchel.\u003c\/i\u003e’\u003cbr\u003eIvan Yates, Newstalk\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gill Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47117373702384,"sku":"9780717158089","price":5.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780717158089_p0.jpg?v=1763624372","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780717158089","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}