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Review
Praise for Dylan Jones:
"Dylan Jones has had the sort of access of which most political journalists can only dream, and brings to his subject formidable writing talent, wit and wisdom. This is an important book and a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the man who would be prime minister" - Matthew d'Ancona, editor of The Spectator
"Dylan Jones is truly a polymath, a man equally at home discussing the merits of Arne Jacobsen as the appeal of David Cameron. As a writer, he has an effortless style with an erring instinct for the absurd and the noteworthy” - Simon Kelner, editor of The Independent
Simon Kelner, editor of The Independent
"Dylan Jones is truly a polymath, a man equally at home discussing the merits of Arne Jacobsen as the appeal of David Cameron. As a writer, he has an effortless style with an erring instinct for the absurd and the noteworthy"
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book in a charity sale because I wanted to learn more about the Prime Minister and conversations with him seemed a good approach. However, I also did a quick check on the author to determine from which direction he was writing to discover what I suspected anyway. He is an enthusiast - so that's a plus for Mr Cameron. As Leader of HM's Opposition (as he was when it was written) he was astute enough to have an enthusiast writing a major book about him. That was comforting.
The only review on the dust cover is from the Editor of "The Spectator" who thinks it is an "important book" and essential reading, a "must read". No change then.
The book is not a political tract and - in many ways - is quite light; I found that a little disappointing but it was good to see he was trying to humanise himself for those in the electorate who might read it, his intended audience rather than "political heavyweights". Not everyone has had the benefits of an Oxbridge life and its rarified air.
It does give details of social responsibility, the family unit, reforming prisons and welfare, national transport, crime, multi-culturalism and all the major issues. This is snorkelling rather than deep-sea diving but at least it wets the feet.
I did emerge with a greater appreciation of the Prime Minister but, as I watch him wrestling with one of the major issues which has damaged so many Prime Ministers, our relationship to Europse and the Eurozone, I know having the policies is all very well but, when the front door opens, there is a real world out there.
The only review on the dust cover is from the Editor of "The Spectator" who thinks it is an "important book" and essential reading, a "must read". No change then.
The book is not a political tract and - in many ways - is quite light; I found that a little disappointing but it was good to see he was trying to humanise himself for those in the electorate who might read it, his intended audience rather than "political heavyweights". Not everyone has had the benefits of an Oxbridge life and its rarified air.
It does give details of social responsibility, the family unit, reforming prisons and welfare, national transport, crime, multi-culturalism and all the major issues. This is snorkelling rather than deep-sea diving but at least it wets the feet.
I did emerge with a greater appreciation of the Prime Minister but, as I watch him wrestling with one of the major issues which has damaged so many Prime Ministers, our relationship to Europse and the Eurozone, I know having the policies is all very well but, when the front door opens, there is a real world out there.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Prior to reading this book I viewed Cameron as a somewhat shallow politician, lacking in policy ideas and likely to become the next PM purely through dint of Gordon Brown and the Labour party's unpopularity.
I can't say that this book massively changed my view on the last of these points, but it has changed my view on the others.
Cameron's main policy ideas - social responsibility, strengthening the family unit, reforming prisons and welfare - are all in this book, even if they're not detailed massively. He puts strong emphasis on the family, saying it is the root of our social problems, and that he believes in offering incentives for families to stay together (as recently detailed in Iain Duncan Smith's proposals regarding a three month probation period prior to divorce) rather than simply imposing a piece of legislation, such as ASBOs, in an attempt to reduce youth disaffection, knife crime and gun crime.
He also gets onto prison reform, but doesn't really enlighten us as to how he plans to reform prisons, preferring instead to lay into Brown and Blair's prison system.
Other areas touched on are Britain's transport infrastructure, immigration and multi-culturalism (which Cameron believes need reigning in), Europe and the rich-poor divide (which Cameron, somewhat unrealistically, believes can be reduced by helping those at the bottom to better themselves, while leaving the rich alone to get on with getting richer).
While there is some straight-talking here, the author Dylan Jones is very much a paid up Conservative, and doesn't grill Cameron as thoroughly as an independent journalist would. Cameron's time in PR, as he admits in the book, turned him into something of an accomplished liar (or bender of the truth) and Jones lets him get away with this on numerous occasions.
Jones also spends a lot of his pre-amble to each chapter donning his rose-tinted spectacles and eulogising Cameron, or laying into Gordon Brown. I never expected this book to be anything but pro-Cameron, but I would have liked a bit more journalistic balance.
Still, it provided some insight into his policies, and only strengthened my belief that he is destined to be Britain's next PM. For anyone interested in politics, or Cameron, this is a worthwhile and easy read.
I can't say that this book massively changed my view on the last of these points, but it has changed my view on the others.
Cameron's main policy ideas - social responsibility, strengthening the family unit, reforming prisons and welfare - are all in this book, even if they're not detailed massively. He puts strong emphasis on the family, saying it is the root of our social problems, and that he believes in offering incentives for families to stay together (as recently detailed in Iain Duncan Smith's proposals regarding a three month probation period prior to divorce) rather than simply imposing a piece of legislation, such as ASBOs, in an attempt to reduce youth disaffection, knife crime and gun crime.
He also gets onto prison reform, but doesn't really enlighten us as to how he plans to reform prisons, preferring instead to lay into Brown and Blair's prison system.
Other areas touched on are Britain's transport infrastructure, immigration and multi-culturalism (which Cameron believes need reigning in), Europe and the rich-poor divide (which Cameron, somewhat unrealistically, believes can be reduced by helping those at the bottom to better themselves, while leaving the rich alone to get on with getting richer).
While there is some straight-talking here, the author Dylan Jones is very much a paid up Conservative, and doesn't grill Cameron as thoroughly as an independent journalist would. Cameron's time in PR, as he admits in the book, turned him into something of an accomplished liar (or bender of the truth) and Jones lets him get away with this on numerous occasions.
Jones also spends a lot of his pre-amble to each chapter donning his rose-tinted spectacles and eulogising Cameron, or laying into Gordon Brown. I never expected this book to be anything but pro-Cameron, but I would have liked a bit more journalistic balance.
Still, it provided some insight into his policies, and only strengthened my belief that he is destined to be Britain's next PM. For anyone interested in politics, or Cameron, this is a worthwhile and easy read.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Anxious to be perceived as a human, David Cameron talks as frankly as his programming will allow to Dylan Jones. I was going to say it's interesting to read this in hindsight, but it actually isn't very interesting at all. Even more so than with regular politicians, it's very hard to apprehend anything Cameron says as anything less than gobsmackingly insincere, and this book doesn't change that. Eventually, the insincerity overwhelms, and the disparity between Cameron's PR-speak vision for society, and the actuality of his current catastrophic mismanagement of the U.K. becomes too much to bear.
The bottom line is that David Cameron can go on about society all he likes - he's not part of regular society. He is a very wealthy, very privileged member of the power elite of the UK, and always has been. And every single action he's taken since assuming the role of Prime Minister has underlined this fact. We're not "in this together" and no amount of the kind of self-conscious affected everybloke normality pushed in this book is going to convince people otherwise.
The bottom line is that David Cameron can go on about society all he likes - he's not part of regular society. He is a very wealthy, very privileged member of the power elite of the UK, and always has been. And every single action he's taken since assuming the role of Prime Minister has underlined this fact. We're not "in this together" and no amount of the kind of self-conscious affected everybloke normality pushed in this book is going to convince people otherwise.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Just a boring book
Honestly, the book is so light on politics as to be a complete unpolitical book. It's a bunch of soft focus, thrown together personal rubbish about how great a guy David Cameron... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Jon Stone
Enjoyed the Q&A, not Dylan Jones' style.
I just finished this book and, on the whole, enjoyed it. I thought the question and answer sessions, where Cameron explains out his liberal Conservative philosophy and plans for... Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2009 by E. Plant
Much needed light shone on the Cameron enigma
Up until now all we have seen of David Cameron has been through the filter of the party's publicists and their attempts to 'decontaminate' the Tory brand. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2008 by Headhunter
Fascinating and informative
I'm far from being a card-carrying Cameron fan, but this book, written as a series of interviews over the space of a year, provides a very modern approach to politics - open,... Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2008 by helen
All style and no substance
This book offers nothing in terms of learning what policies that Cameron has to offer at all. He says that he has ideas but does not back it up with anything in detail at all... Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2008 by Mr. M. J. Davies
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