We begin by casting back to late summer to include Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir Frankly in this seasonal survey of new political writing. According to Sunday Times interviewer Decca Aitkenhead, who had read the book in advance, it is “quite unlike most political memoirs” and “feels more like the author’s self-critical internal audit, detailing the thinking behind every decision and drama of 30 years in politics... Reading Frankly, there were moments when it felt like The French Lieutenant’s Woman rewritten by Margaret Atwood, a dark Victorian tale of a woman’s reputation ruined.” Intriguingly, Sturgeon states in the book: “Long-term relationships with men have accounted for more than 30 years of my life, but I have never considered sexuality, my own included, to be binary.” Alex Massie, columnist for The Times, described the book as “an artfully constructed piece of special pleading designed to demonstrate, once and for all, that Nicola was Right All Along.” There is little acknowledgement...