Review
Written in a congenial style peppered with slang and gossipy asides. At one moment he is the bloke in the pub. The next, he is Churchill. --Ben MacIntyre, The Times
This is a more honest political memoir than most and more open in many respects than I had anticipated. He is compellingly candid about how scared he was when he first became prime minister . . . He is unusually direct about his calculations, even when they don't reflect well on him . . . He admits to stretching the truth beyond `breaking point' to secure a settlement in Northern Ireland. Even when the lies are told in a noble cause, few politicians are honest enough to admit that they sometimes feel compelled to be deceivers. --Andrew Rawnsley, Observer
He is by turns outspoken, provocative, unrepentant, often serious, sometimes funny. --David Frost, Al Jazeera
Tony Blair's memoir is part psychodrama, part treatise on the frustrations of leadership in a modern democracy . . . The book's broader purpose is to preserve his legacy, settling scores, justifying the war against Iraq, and mounting a defiant plea to his party to keep faith with New Labour . . . Blair comes across as likable, if manipulative; capable of dissembling while wonderfully fluent; in short, a brilliant modern politician. --Lionel Barber, Financial Times
Will certainly become a bestseller.
--Robert McCrum, Observer
This is substantial, thoughtful book and on the whole well written . . . My judgment is that he has for the most part set down honestly his version of events and attempted seriously to engage with his critics --Chris Mullin, Times
The fascination of the British public with Tony Blair is almost on the scale of his fascination with his own relationship to them --Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times
Really rather splendid --Jan Moir, Daily Mail
Prime Ministerial memoirs are traditionally stuffy, formal and guarded, as though written under police caution. Tony Blair's are nothing of the sort . . . his memoirs are chummy, colloquial, impulsive and rash . . . it is this candour that makes the book so readable --(4 out of 5 star review) Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday
As this book immodestly reveals, Tony Blair was, and remains, a remarkable influence on politics, both domestically and internationally
--Menzies Campbell, Scotland on Sunday
What makes his memoir so absorbing as it swings from clever phrase-making and thoughtful contemporary history to wince-inducing self-analysis, is that he is the first of a generation of politicians to conduct their craft as if observing themselves from an amused an admiring distance - and then to write about it. No recent politician has examines his own motives and psychology quite so candidly -- John Rentoul, Independent
It is the small revelations about the character of Blair that make this book worthwhile --Ross Clark, Express
It's a gripping insight into the ex-PM's ten years of power . . . It will take a lot for many people to read his own take on the rise and fall of New Labour, but those that do might be reminded of the charm and vision that swept him to power --News of the World
I have read many a prime ministerial memoir and none of the other authors has been as self-deprecating, as willing to admit mistakes and to tell jokes against themselves --Mary Ann Sieghart, Independent
Paints a candid picture of his friend and rival, Gordon Brown, and of their relationship
--Patrick Hennessy, Sunday Telegraph
This is a more honest political memoir than most and more open in many respects than I had anticipated. He is compellingly candid about how scared he was when he first became prime minister . . . He is unusually direct about his calculations, even when they don't reflect well on him . . . He admits to stretching the truth beyond `breaking point' to secure a settlement in Northern Ireland. Even when the lies are told in a noble cause, few politicians are honest enough to admit that they sometimes feel compelled to be deceivers. --Andrew Rawnsley, Observer
He is by turns outspoken, provocative, unrepentant, often serious, sometimes funny. --David Frost, Al Jazeera
Tony Blair's memoir is part psychodrama, part treatise on the frustrations of leadership in a modern democracy . . . The book's broader purpose is to preserve his legacy, settling scores, justifying the war against Iraq, and mounting a defiant plea to his party to keep faith with New Labour . . . Blair comes across as likable, if manipulative; capable of dissembling while wonderfully fluent; in short, a brilliant modern politician. --Lionel Barber, Financial Times
Will certainly become a bestseller.
--Robert McCrum, Observer
This is substantial, thoughtful book and on the whole well written . . . My judgment is that he has for the most part set down honestly his version of events and attempted seriously to engage with his critics --Chris Mullin, Times
The fascination of the British public with Tony Blair is almost on the scale of his fascination with his own relationship to them --Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times
Really rather splendid --Jan Moir, Daily Mail
Prime Ministerial memoirs are traditionally stuffy, formal and guarded, as though written under police caution. Tony Blair's are nothing of the sort . . . his memoirs are chummy, colloquial, impulsive and rash . . . it is this candour that makes the book so readable --(4 out of 5 star review) Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday
As this book immodestly reveals, Tony Blair was, and remains, a remarkable influence on politics, both domestically and internationally
--Menzies Campbell, Scotland on Sunday
What makes his memoir so absorbing as it swings from clever phrase-making and thoughtful contemporary history to wince-inducing self-analysis, is that he is the first of a generation of politicians to conduct their craft as if observing themselves from an amused an admiring distance - and then to write about it. No recent politician has examines his own motives and psychology quite so candidly -- John Rentoul, Independent
It is the small revelations about the character of Blair that make this book worthwhile --Ross Clark, Express
It's a gripping insight into the ex-PM's ten years of power . . . It will take a lot for many people to read his own take on the rise and fall of New Labour, but those that do might be reminded of the charm and vision that swept him to power --News of the World
I have read many a prime ministerial memoir and none of the other authors has been as self-deprecating, as willing to admit mistakes and to tell jokes against themselves --Mary Ann Sieghart, Independent
Paints a candid picture of his friend and rival, Gordon Brown, and of their relationship
--Patrick Hennessy, Sunday Telegraph
Book Description
The memoirs of Tony Blair - a worldwide publishing sensation
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