Hey there, honestly the best book I found for that was DK Publishing's The Politics Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained It does a great job of chronologically exploring the development of political ideas, while also mixing in visual learning.
One thing that is very important to remember is political beliefs fall into 2 categories. Social and economic. Also do some research and look at the political leanings of historical figures, it will help give you examples as opposed to just a definition.
There is also a book that explains things in a very simple form https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Book-Ideas-Simply-Explained/dp/1465473904
Finally if you run across anything or anyone that uses communist and socialist at the same time to talk about a single person or entity, run the other way quickly. There a clear sign they don't know what those terms actually mean.
This friend is absolutely right. The Very Short Introductions are totally the place to go for simple, clear and straightforward clarifications on topics pretty fast. I truly love that this series exists. It has titles on every subject you can imagine.
Another I can recommend is this. It's a nice DK illustrated encyclopedia about politics. It's simple, clear, very straightforward and it presents the stuff in a way that's easy to understand:
Librarisn here, you're welcome!
The Politics Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained https://www.amazon.com/dp/1465473904/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_rwhVDbC15WSYQ