Nick Clegg: A Biography
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Product Description
Product Description
The book charts Clegg's rise from MEP to Deputy Prime Minister, and lynchpin in the historic coalition government. It will also look at the extraordinary family history that helps defines him as a politician.
About the Author
Chris Bowers is a journalist and commentator, and author of Roger Federer: The Greatest (John Blake, 2010).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The pre-publication newspaper serialisation of Chris Bower's biography of Nick Clegg used extracts which covered the Deputy Prime Minister's early life. When you read the full book the reason for this is amply clear. It has much interesting to say about Nick Clegg's multi-national family and their close brushes with the tragedies of the early twentieth century. As it gets on to Clegg's political career, however, it increasingly has little to say that will not already be familiar to close followers of political news from other accounts.
In a few cases it even has less to say than has already come out elsewhere, such as in the speculation about whether the Conservative Party was responsible for some of the personal anti-Clegg smears during the 2010 general election campaign - a responsibility that The British General Election of 2010 has in fact already documented.
It would be wrong to conclude therefore that the book is of more interest to those into family history than politics, for the story of Nick Clegg's family background does much to illuminate both his strong liberal roots and the form his liberalism takes. The Dutch egalitarianism of his mother and her bemusement at the idiosyncrasies of the British class system has "rubbed off on me too" Clegg says, explaining that she was particularly influential.
With a family that spans Russia, Holland and Spain alongside its British elements, and a mother who was a special needs teacher, his subsequently political concerns for internationalism and early years education naturally flow from his formative years. His grandfather's time as a path-breaking editor of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) who was well known for his willingness to attack those in the NHS that he saw as not up to scratch may also help explain why Clegg himself so often shows an open-minded scepticism about the quality of parts of the public sector.
An impressively wide range of people were interviewed for the book so despite the relatively straight-forward narrative of recent years, a few details do stand out - such as the confirmation that Clegg was actively planning a leadership campaign several months before Ming Campbell stood down.
To Bower's credit too, he reports the fallout between Huhne and Laws over the Laws chapter in the Orange Book, an event that seems to have completely passed by a multitude of political journalists who have written of that chapter without mentioning the arguments it caused between the different Orange Book authors.
Most striking are two comments. One is from Vince Cable putting on record his disagreement with Clegg's initial approach in the summer of 2010 of playing down any differences of view between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in coalition. However as the party and Clegg have both since moved on that quote is more of historic interest than practical current political relevance.
That other is from Ian Blair, then Met Police Commissioner, who is reported as telling Clegg that the powers granted to the police had become so widespread that, if the police chose to use them all, the country would be a police state. It is moments such as that in the book that explain why Clegg is a liberal but also a liberal who has grave doubts over how good an ally the Labour Party is for liberalism.
In a few cases it even has less to say than has already come out elsewhere, such as in the speculation about whether the Conservative Party was responsible for some of the personal anti-Clegg smears during the 2010 general election campaign - a responsibility that The British General Election of 2010 has in fact already documented.
It would be wrong to conclude therefore that the book is of more interest to those into family history than politics, for the story of Nick Clegg's family background does much to illuminate both his strong liberal roots and the form his liberalism takes. The Dutch egalitarianism of his mother and her bemusement at the idiosyncrasies of the British class system has "rubbed off on me too" Clegg says, explaining that she was particularly influential.
With a family that spans Russia, Holland and Spain alongside its British elements, and a mother who was a special needs teacher, his subsequently political concerns for internationalism and early years education naturally flow from his formative years. His grandfather's time as a path-breaking editor of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) who was well known for his willingness to attack those in the NHS that he saw as not up to scratch may also help explain why Clegg himself so often shows an open-minded scepticism about the quality of parts of the public sector.
An impressively wide range of people were interviewed for the book so despite the relatively straight-forward narrative of recent years, a few details do stand out - such as the confirmation that Clegg was actively planning a leadership campaign several months before Ming Campbell stood down.
To Bower's credit too, he reports the fallout between Huhne and Laws over the Laws chapter in the Orange Book, an event that seems to have completely passed by a multitude of political journalists who have written of that chapter without mentioning the arguments it caused between the different Orange Book authors.
Most striking are two comments. One is from Vince Cable putting on record his disagreement with Clegg's initial approach in the summer of 2010 of playing down any differences of view between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in coalition. However as the party and Clegg have both since moved on that quote is more of historic interest than practical current political relevance.
That other is from Ian Blair, then Met Police Commissioner, who is reported as telling Clegg that the powers granted to the police had become so widespread that, if the police chose to use them all, the country would be a police state. It is moments such as that in the book that explain why Clegg is a liberal but also a liberal who has grave doubts over how good an ally the Labour Party is for liberalism.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've just finished reading "Nick Clegg The Biography".
It starts with a foreward by the author and I found this quote a good start:
"Like any local party, we have a mix of personalities...It's the politician's job to treat them all with respect and ease, but he had something special. It was almost entrancing watching him interact with someone new, male or female, seeing him look into their eyes, tilt his head slighlty, and watching them go weak at the knees. Some call it charm, others call it charisma. Whatever you call it, he had it."
The first part about his family history is interesting and fascinating and goes some way to finding what makes him tick.
However, the rest of the book feels lacking in depth and research to a certain extent. The majority seems to be taken from published interviews with Nick and the odd quote from one or two who know him. I think if I had sat and researched Nick Clegg on the internet and spoken to one or two people who know him, then I could have come up with something similar.
There seem to be holes and innaccuracies too. For example, when talking about Nick preparing for the debates it mentions nothing about how he came up with the trick of looking directly into the camera, but credits someone who came into help with everything. And on his microphone gaffe, the quote is slightly wrong - and I noticed that without having to look up the exact quotation. I also picked up 2 spelling mistakes (though these are more the fault of the publisher than the writer).
Also, on the chapter of forming the coalition I would advise reading David Laws' "22 Days in May" first. When he lists Labour's negotiating team he misses out Harriet Harman completely. Though I'd prefer not seeing her name in a book about Nick as I have an inane dislike for the women, but it makes it innaccurate. It doesn't emphasise how they made no concessions to us and put a block up on AV.
Is it written from a neutral perspective? Well since it echoes what I always thought and felt about Nick, I would say not really. Some of the comments on NHS and tuition fees and about Nick feel to me like they come from a Lib Dem persepctive. The author is a Lib Dem, so I guess that isn't surprising, but I'm not sure it is as balanced as the author says he sets out for it to be.
Basically, apart from some of his family history, it doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
I'm not saying it's bad, just one or two niggles and not much depth. It's an easy read, and some who know little about him may find it extremely interesting. I did enjoy reading it overall and Nick is a fascinating personality.
It starts with a foreward by the author and I found this quote a good start:
"Like any local party, we have a mix of personalities...It's the politician's job to treat them all with respect and ease, but he had something special. It was almost entrancing watching him interact with someone new, male or female, seeing him look into their eyes, tilt his head slighlty, and watching them go weak at the knees. Some call it charm, others call it charisma. Whatever you call it, he had it."
The first part about his family history is interesting and fascinating and goes some way to finding what makes him tick.
However, the rest of the book feels lacking in depth and research to a certain extent. The majority seems to be taken from published interviews with Nick and the odd quote from one or two who know him. I think if I had sat and researched Nick Clegg on the internet and spoken to one or two people who know him, then I could have come up with something similar.
There seem to be holes and innaccuracies too. For example, when talking about Nick preparing for the debates it mentions nothing about how he came up with the trick of looking directly into the camera, but credits someone who came into help with everything. And on his microphone gaffe, the quote is slightly wrong - and I noticed that without having to look up the exact quotation. I also picked up 2 spelling mistakes (though these are more the fault of the publisher than the writer).
Also, on the chapter of forming the coalition I would advise reading David Laws' "22 Days in May" first. When he lists Labour's negotiating team he misses out Harriet Harman completely. Though I'd prefer not seeing her name in a book about Nick as I have an inane dislike for the women, but it makes it innaccurate. It doesn't emphasise how they made no concessions to us and put a block up on AV.
Is it written from a neutral perspective? Well since it echoes what I always thought and felt about Nick, I would say not really. Some of the comments on NHS and tuition fees and about Nick feel to me like they come from a Lib Dem persepctive. The author is a Lib Dem, so I guess that isn't surprising, but I'm not sure it is as balanced as the author says he sets out for it to be.
Basically, apart from some of his family history, it doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
I'm not saying it's bad, just one or two niggles and not much depth. It's an easy read, and some who know little about him may find it extremely interesting. I did enjoy reading it overall and Nick is a fascinating personality.
Format:Hardcover
First of all, credit is due to Bowers simply for giving us a biography of Nick Clegg. I found it interesting, rewarding and easy to read. For anyone who wants to develop their understanding of contemporary politics, books such as this matter. They take you beyond the superficiality of the daily mass media.
I was also going to say that the book stayed just the right side of hagiography, but that was until I got to the last chapter. I really don't think Nick Clegg needs the syrupy slick of complimentary quotes and praise that emerges here (even the apparent criticisms are a form of back-handed praise for his 'honesty' and 'naivety'). This culminates in the ludicrously silly assertion that "It's also not far-fetched to envisage him embarking on an acting career" if his political career goes pear-shaped. At that point, the author should really have left his desk, gone for a coffee and poked his head out of the window for some fresh air.
The early part of the book is the best. The story of Clegg's family background and early experiences is engagingly told. However, there are two significant things wrong with the book as a whole. Firstly, we get very little sense of what Clegg's liberalism draws on other than his family background and work experience. The chap is well-educated but there is more time devoted to his musical tastes than his political reading and intellectual influences (and, no, I don't think the discussion of Samuel Beckett counts). Secondly, the second half of the book gets too bogged down in the political shenanigans of the last couple of years of Coalition government. In places it even ceases to be a biography at all.
That said, reading it was a profitable experience. I am much better informed on aspects of what makes the current government tick. I also have a good sense of the developmental issues driving the Liberal Democrats at this point in their history. Clegg has become much more three-dimensional, which is surely the point. I have read better political biographies but I have also, most assuredly, read much worse.
I was also going to say that the book stayed just the right side of hagiography, but that was until I got to the last chapter. I really don't think Nick Clegg needs the syrupy slick of complimentary quotes and praise that emerges here (even the apparent criticisms are a form of back-handed praise for his 'honesty' and 'naivety'). This culminates in the ludicrously silly assertion that "It's also not far-fetched to envisage him embarking on an acting career" if his political career goes pear-shaped. At that point, the author should really have left his desk, gone for a coffee and poked his head out of the window for some fresh air.
The early part of the book is the best. The story of Clegg's family background and early experiences is engagingly told. However, there are two significant things wrong with the book as a whole. Firstly, we get very little sense of what Clegg's liberalism draws on other than his family background and work experience. The chap is well-educated but there is more time devoted to his musical tastes than his political reading and intellectual influences (and, no, I don't think the discussion of Samuel Beckett counts). Secondly, the second half of the book gets too bogged down in the political shenanigans of the last couple of years of Coalition government. In places it even ceases to be a biography at all.
That said, reading it was a profitable experience. I am much better informed on aspects of what makes the current government tick. I also have a good sense of the developmental issues driving the Liberal Democrats at this point in their history. Clegg has become much more three-dimensional, which is surely the point. I have read better political biographies but I have also, most assuredly, read much worse.
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