Great Hatred, Little Room: Making Peace in Northern Ireland [Hardcover]

* The Blair administration's pursuit of a lasting settlement in Northern Ireland stands out as one of the great achievements in modern British politics.

* Even after the initial moves towards a peace, there was every chance that long-nursed grievances would break out again into paramilitary extremism. That they did not is a lasting monument to the determination and guile of many of those involved.

* As the government's key negotiator, Jonathan Powell is uniquely qualified to give the definitive account of the end of the Troubles.

* Great Hatred, Little Room: Making Peace in Northern Ireland will become a landmark in the literature of conflict resolution: an historical document of lasting importance that is also a vivid and dramatic account of fallible men and women working at the limits of their endurance.

'A powerful contribution to the history of Anglo-Irish relations' Literary Review

'A fascinating book. No-one else could provide such an insider's account, for he was the only one to be involved in the detail of every tortuous step' Sunday Telegraph

Making peace in Northern Ireland was the greatest success of the Blair government, and one of the greatest achievements in British politics since the Second World War. In Jonathan Powell's masterly account we learn just how close the talks leading to the Good Friday agreement came to collapse and how the parties finally reached a deal.

Pithy, outspoken and precise, Powell, Tony Blair's Chief of Staff and chief negotiator, gives us that rarest of things, a true insider's account of politics at the highest level. He demonstrates how the events in Northern Ireland have valuable lessons for those seeking to end conflict in other parts of the world and shows us how the process of making peace is sometimes messy and often blackly comic.

'Jonathan Powell has produced one of the half-dozen best books of the Troubles... He was the ultimate insider... Powell writes in a personal manner, with deft character sketches' Independent

'He is an engaging witness to the events that brought peace to the benighted north - largely because he wants no future role in politics and can afford to be outspoken.'' Scotsman on Sunday