It’s hard not to write in superlatives of this extraordinary novel it combines great intelligence (digressions on mathematics and philosophy) with a global story of love, alienation and belonging which moves vividly between South Kensington, the tiny excruciating details of Oxford racism and snobbery to the breathtaking drama of a catastrophic train crash in Bangladesh and on to the frenzied world of NGOs in Kabul in the wake of the Afghanistan invasion. In the Light of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahman Carby moves the reader through every possible response to the complex patterns of family lineage under empire.Ģ. Carby’s account of how her family were pulled apart by the systemic racism and intolerance of mixed-race marriages in the 50s and 60s is utterly shocking she poignantly portrays how her father, a man of great dignity, had believed in the promises and ideals proclaimed by the British. In the second world war, her father joined up to fight for the empire, and then married a white British woman. In the 18th century, a Lincolnshire farmer’s lad left home to make his fortune as a plantation owner and gave his name, Carby, to generations of mixed-race Jamaicans. Carby is a professor at Yale, but this book is deeply personal as she brings academic research and analysis to bear on her family history. This book instantly stood out as the winner of the British Academy Nayef Al-Rodhan prize last year when I was on the jury. The aftermath of empire has rightly spawned a huge literature, and I found it excruciating to choose just 10. Britain is the world’s fourth largest exporter of arms, yet the British are adept at averting their eyes from this legacy or its consequences. Following the story of one British family, I trace how in the following decades, Britain built a global defence and security industry out of the remains of empire, and spawned a service sector of finance, law and public relations.
#Top 10 international relations books movie#
Phone Booth: While only the beginning of the movie really discusses the publicity career of Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell), it’s a whole movie about someone who’s playing a publicist – so has to be on the list of best PR movies for that reason alone.These were the seeds of my novel Ceremony of Innocence which opens in Iran in the late 60s: the empire is over and the British establishment is searching to secure its future as the Shah’s regime indulges in absurd extravagance. With touches on Public Relations throughout the movie, the star transitions to a PR man at the end of the movie again – to a group of citizens in his New Jersey town.
Jersey Girl: PR’s a high pressure industry and its non-stop, as the start of this movie shows us with Ben Affleck losing it at a high-stakes press conference – and then losing his job. Sweet Smell of Success: Made in 1957, in 1993 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film highlights the relationship between a gossip columnist and the head of a PR Agency – and shows the closely tied relationships – still relevant today between journalists and PR.
It tells a great business story – and encompasses both digital media and more traditional public relations stories. The Social Network: Public Relations today of course includes digital media, and if we believe the movie, Public Relations via the Harvard newspaper enabled students to first learn about their new social media platform – and that’s where all the fun began – and continued with negatively planted stories. The movie ends with a great quote "Michael Jordan plays ball. Thank You For Smoking: Follows a good looking suave head of a tobacco lobby – as he spins tobacco health claims on television – and in several amusing scenes cavorts with others in questionable industries – Firearm and alcohol lobbyists. Jerry Maguire: What list of PR movies could be complete without this classic Tom Cruise flick? From the immortal “Show Me the Money” lines to the disputes with other agents trying to steal his clients, his hard work for his clients and pushing them on marketing, there are many transferable skills from this movie for those of us in PR – and it’s a great one. The power of public relations is apparent here.
#Top 10 international relations books pro#
Wag the Dog: The movie which starred Dustin Hoffman & Robert DeNiro is focused upon a Washington political consultant/PR pro who created a fake war, replete with movies, theme songs and other aspects meant to distract the public. So, my list of the top 10 PR Movies of all time: