So, you have your hat, swimming costume and sun tan lotion packed . . . now, what books to take along? The first of my summer book selection is by a man who knows how to write under pressure. Nixon is a compelling biography of the former American President by Conrad Black, who wrote the 1,152-page work as he awaited trial in Chicago on fraud charges. Black writes with sympathy for the embattled politician and downplays his motives in the Watergate scandal. “The Watergate cover-up was illegal and ineffectual, but it wasn’t an attempted coup d’etat." Black has an instinctive sympathy for Nixon, a man villified by the media, and the power of the book lies in the rich attention to the character of his subject as well as the inevitable comparisons to its author - “Nixon seemed finally to have reached . . . in crisis, a point of serenity.”

* The overthrow of flawed leaders is dealt with by John Adamson in The Noble Revolt. This marathon account chronicles the lives of the principle protagonists who brought Charles I to trial and execution. There has been a wealth of books on the English Civil War in the past few years but this has all the feel of a definitive account. It looks to the underbelly of England for the causes of the crisis - and here we find the abuse of law and such abuse was not one-sided. In 1624 Parliament, by Stuart standards, had engaged in a massive legislative programme, passing 38 private and 35 public Acts of Parliament, all within 15 weeks, a record of which new Labour would be proud. But as civil war took hold in 1640, Cromwell’s Parliament became obsessed with exposing the former regime's failures, embarking upon “a massive information-gathering exercise: a vast audit of misrule”.

* It was the sort of spin that Alastair Campbell would have been proud of. No summer reading list should be without the extracts from his diaries. But extracts they are and one cannot help but wonder what it is that he has missed out. Although occasionally providing us with insights into the thought processes of government, it is the considered exposure of Blair’s fears and vulnerabilities that make the book required reading. Blair’s attitude to events such as the Hutton Inquiry is revealing: “He felt that even though the inquiry team were in the driving seat, they were conscious . . . that he was . . . the Prime Minister.”

* Onerous as Hutton was, Mr Blair might be relieved to know that it could have been worse. Toby Green’s account of the worldwide pursuit of heretics in his book Inquisition, like John Adamson’s account of the hidden legal battles of the Civil War, reveals that the methods of the inquisition went beyond graphic torture; it derived much of its power from “its role in the censorship of books”. This continued into the 18th century which degenerated into the suppression of books advancing new scientific and technical ideas, signalling the end of the inquisition, as the new “Enlightenment, heralded its destruction”.

* Paul Hoffman’s novel The Golden Age of Censorship takes up the theme in 1980s Britain. His thesis is based upon Parliament giving sweeping powers to a film censor, Nick Berg. Berg builds a team of seven people who become responsible for the nation’s morals. As the group slowly implodes we are treated to a novel of wit and subtlety, the highlights of which are the fictional reports of films considered for censorship. Written by a former film censor, the piece considers the fundamental iniquity of censorship, in the end it all comes down to personal taste and morality.

* Finally, John Walsh’s novel Sunday at the Cross Bones is the story of a clergyman who falls for a 16-year-old prostitute. The finale describes the trial of the priest for immorality by associating with a woman “of loose character”. This time, the court, not the censor, taking control of our moral welfare.

The Invincible Quest: The Life of Richard Milhous Nixon by Conrad Black. Published by Quercus. £30

The Noble Revolt: The Otherthrow of Charles I by John Adamson. Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. £25

The Blair Years by Alastair Campbell. Published by Hutchinson. £25

Inquisition: The Reign of Fear by Toby Green. Published by MacMillan. £20

The Golden Age of Censorship by Paul Hoffman. Published by Doubleday. £17.99

Sunday at the Cross Bones by John Walsh. Published by Fourth Estate. £12.99

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