Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now They Tell Us, 24 May 2009
"The Hugo Young Papers" edited by Ion Trewin, is a massive addition to the published record of British politics of the past thirty years.
Hugo Young was primus inter pares among political columnists from 1969 to his death in 2003. He wrote first for the Sunday Times and, post Murdoch, the Guardian. During this period, he conducted regular background interviews with the leading politicians of the day. His access was granted not only because of his role on these newspapers, but on account of his personal credibility: in the words of Douglas Hurd, one of his regular interlocutors, these were "conversation(s) between two people roughly equal in status and knowledge...the conversation was a pleasure in itself." The interviews were off-the-record. Young's executors have honored this and sought permission from every living source to publish. Virtually none declined, though now that he is back in the cabinet, Peter Mandelson may wish that he had suppressed his 2000 comment that Ed Balls was "a poisonous influence" on Blair.
Young did not write notes during the meetings - one can imagine a servant in the Coffee Room of the Garrick discreetly reminding him of the rules had he tried, just as a waiter in Wilton's had to tut tut David Miliband as he began removing his jacket during a lunchtime interview in July 1999. The written records were therefore reconstructed in tranquility, sometimes several days after the meetings. By all accounts they are reliably accurate. Young wrote them in a sort of summary form in which he paraphrases what his interlocutor said, sometimes in the first person, sometimes in the third. Thus there is a certain similarity in voice across all the characters, though of course Alan Clark sounds quite different from Douglas Hurd, for example.
There are no bombshell revelations. The strength of the papers is in their reporting of what the leading players were thinking at the time and the way in which the multiple interviews on the same issue or personality triangulate so as to create a textured, three-dimensional picture. Several large themes occupy much of the collection: the leadership transitions of Heath and Wilson; the collapse of Old Labour; how humiliating it was for grown men to work for Mrs. Thatcher; the demise of John Major's government; the subsequent Tory leadership campaigns; the relationship between Blair and Brown; and the imminence (or not) of a referendum on the Euro.
As the years moved on, Young increasingly included his own assessments. Thus of William Hague, he observes that he is " a man who knows he should not be in the job;" of Michael Portillo "he behaves like someone who hasn't got the smallest idea how much I disagree with him;" and of Tony Blair : " his lack of bottom .... derives both from the thinness of his project and the lightness of his personality." Our own dear current Prime Minister does appear, "with his flow of three-point analyses and three-point plans," his "piles of paper, " and his conviction that we have nothing to learn from Europe while other countries "need to reform along the lines we have already taken." Many of Brown's colleagues express dislike or distrust of him, even if they respect him. Young's own conclusion is quite positive: "here is a serious man. With some patience. He has the sharpest mind, deeply engaged with this entire spectrum of issues."
If there is any moral to be drawn from this archive, it may be how much of politics is determined by, er politics. Also, it is striking how inaccurate many of the predictions made by informed people turned out to be: Chris Patten's that Thatcher was finished in 1986 (`into the tomb the Great Queen crashes"); virtually everyone's that the Conservatives could not win in 1992; Young's own that Livingstone would be leader of the party by the end of the century; Robin Cook's that Gordon Brown would never be.; and so on.
Following another interview with Miliband ("check" as "HY" often notes in the margin), Young observes that New Labour does not really respect the role of the press as the Fourth Estate. This collection shows how mistaken they are.
PS.
My hardback edition fell apart, too.
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3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent content.Appalling book quality, 4 Feb 2009
I bought this book from you to give to a student of politics who wishes to be a journalist.Having sampled 100 + pages it was an excellent choice.The quality of the product,ie the manufactured book is a disgrace.I read the book from back to front - I can remember best the recent years.As I read each page it fell out of the book.
I now have loose pages from no.830 to 715,and before I have read it 707 is already loose.
Part of the joy of books is to store them on bookshelves.In this case the durability of the book was vital for a student for frequent reference to a source of political and journalistic experience.
I expect this book to be replaced without returning it since it is useless to anyone and before the end of February.I hope you can feel my anger!Product: Hugo Young Papers,published Allen Lane.
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1 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Hugo Young Papers, 1 Feb 2009
This book was given as a Christmas Present.
When the present recipient has finished reading it I will review it.
Purchase, delivery and the description of the item lived up to it's expectations.
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