The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.
~ Harry S. Truman
I want to recommend Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt. Such a smart look at contemporary affairs through analyses of Macbeth, Coriolanus, & Richard III. From which he learns, for example, that there are always people in a new regime who will do anything to win the ruler's favor. And "the purely conventional and meaningless emblems precipitate a rush of both group solidarity and group loathing. This loathing is an important part of what leads to a social breakdown and, eventually, to tyranny." He covers the cynical use of populism, how respectable people are eager to benefit while appearing blameless, why the rich want more more more when they already have more than they could ever use.