Parting Shots
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Product Description
Product Description
Up till 2006 a British Ambassador leaving his post was encouraged to write what was known as a valedictory despatch, to be circulated to a small number of influential people in government. This was the parting shot, an opportunity to offer a personal and frank view of the host country, the manners and morals of its people, their institutions, the state of their cooking and their drains. But it was also a chance to let rip at the Foreign Office itself and to look back on a career spent in the service of a sometimes ungrateful nation.
Combining gems from the archives with more recent despatches obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Parting Shots is a treasure trove of wit, venom and serious analysis. Astute and often gloriously non-politically, they shed light on Britain's place in the world, and reveal the curious cocktail of privilege and privation which make up the life of an ambassador.
About the Author
Matthew Parris had a short career in the Foreign Office where one of his tasks was to distribute incoming valedictory despatches. He was a Conservative MP from 1979 to 1986, since when he has worked as a journalist. He won the Orwell Prize for Journalism, and his acclaimed autobiography Chance Witness was published by Penguin in 2002. He divides his time between Derbyshire (where his old constituency was situated) and east London.
Andrew Bryson is a radio journalist working in the BBC's Business and Economics Unit. He lives in Surrey.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The legend goes that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (and its various previous incarnations) attracts the brightest and the best. Reading this it's hard to disagree and you can add that the service also attracts those with a great deal of wit, a trenchant outlook and a sense of service that could do with being exhibited by a lot more people in modern Britain.
This book contains diplomats' letters written as they left a posting or retired from the service, known in the trade as valedictory despatches. These were acquired by Parris and Bryson through the Freedom of Information Act (explained in the book) and it is partly due to this that valedictory despatches are now a dying tradition. This is a great pity; these letters, as well as sometimes being hilarious and shot through with the frustrations of dealing with foreign bureaucracy and bizarre habits, also offer a contemporary front row seat to world events in sensitive areas of the world.
Letters from across the globe came back to Whitehall via the diplomatic bag system and, perhaps unsurprisingly it is the letters from South American backwaters and corners of Africa and Asia that are of greater interest from those of the top postings in Washington, Paris and Bonn/Berlin. It is those despatches which do most to dispel the myths of a life of washing down Ferrero Rocher with champagne and replace it with the idea of rat-infested offices in Vietnam and no hot water in Nicaragua.
I am sure that there could quite easily be another volume of these letters (I'd bet ones from the nineteenth century would be fascinating) and I hope that there will be.
This book contains diplomats' letters written as they left a posting or retired from the service, known in the trade as valedictory despatches. These were acquired by Parris and Bryson through the Freedom of Information Act (explained in the book) and it is partly due to this that valedictory despatches are now a dying tradition. This is a great pity; these letters, as well as sometimes being hilarious and shot through with the frustrations of dealing with foreign bureaucracy and bizarre habits, also offer a contemporary front row seat to world events in sensitive areas of the world.
Letters from across the globe came back to Whitehall via the diplomatic bag system and, perhaps unsurprisingly it is the letters from South American backwaters and corners of Africa and Asia that are of greater interest from those of the top postings in Washington, Paris and Bonn/Berlin. It is those despatches which do most to dispel the myths of a life of washing down Ferrero Rocher with champagne and replace it with the idea of rat-infested offices in Vietnam and no hot water in Nicaragua.
I am sure that there could quite easily be another volume of these letters (I'd bet ones from the nineteenth century would be fascinating) and I hope that there will be.
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book stems from a rewarding radio series.The authors used the Freedom of Information Act to access some of the valedictory messages sent by British Ambassadors back to the Foreign Secretary as they left their posts - and in some cases as they went into retirement. It was a tradition that they let their hair down and did not hold back on their views of the host country. The results are revealing, funny and even hilarious. Some date back to the 1960s and refer to a vanished world where, for example, "our man in Dubai" wielded huge power over the "natives", settling disputes, hearing petitions and freeing slaves. Many are rueful accounts of lives that were not always full of the glamour associated with British Embassies abroad.
Matthew Parris' commentary is well-informed [he was briefly a diplomat himself] and as amusing and readable as the journalism he has won so many plaudits for. Some passages are "laugh out loud" and the book tempts one to collar someone and read some choice piece out to them. {Guilty !!]
Sadly one Foreign Secretary decreed that the tradition should end - there was the risk that some unflattering passages would be leaked and offend those described. So a debt of gratitude to the compilers for ensuring some at least see the light of day.
I promptly ordered two more copies as ideal Christmas presents.
Matthew Parris' commentary is well-informed [he was briefly a diplomat himself] and as amusing and readable as the journalism he has won so many plaudits for. Some passages are "laugh out loud" and the book tempts one to collar someone and read some choice piece out to them. {Guilty !!]
Sadly one Foreign Secretary decreed that the tradition should end - there was the risk that some unflattering passages would be leaked and offend those described. So a debt of gratitude to the compilers for ensuring some at least see the light of day.
I promptly ordered two more copies as ideal Christmas presents.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This "mini-leaks" is a must have for any student of British late 20th century history. Seen through the eyes of some brilliant, or at least opinionated, men (and one woman) and edited with affection and wit, you can track through personal accounts the sad decline in Britain's influence and in the fun of the FCO. One is left hoping that another twenty volumes are to follow - or at least an annual review of the best valedictories released form the archives that year.
Particularly good for those with short attention spans or reading slots - a pick up/put down format ideal for plane journeys etc
Particularly good for those with short attention spans or reading slots - a pick up/put down format ideal for plane journeys etc
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not one of his best
Interesting but was not one of his better reads. Would I recommend it? probably but not with great enthusiasm and only to a person who would be interested in the topic/s covered.
Published 8 months ago by activate
close to the mark
I have worked in the foreign affairs field, and can confirm that the tone and details of diplomatic life ring true; some of the missives are overwritten and pompous, and several... Read more
Published 9 months ago by DavidW.
A selection of fine writing and astute commentary
I enjoyed this volume of diplomatic despatches and especially the additional commentary in parenthesis from editors Matthew Parris and Andrew Bryson. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Neil Kernohan
'Humour' that had none!
This book promised to be amusing! I found it too long winded, many of the lead ups to a validectory were longer that the missive itself. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Confused
very interesting, perhaps unique
Having only been to some of the countries written about on holiday, it was very interesting to read what the inhabitants were really like. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Henrietta
Parting Shots? Definitely on target
Parting Shots is a collection of the valedictory letters sent by ambassadors to the Foreign Secretary upon the completion of a posting. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Jimbo
Not spoiling us
This is everything I hoped it would be - the thoughts laid bare of a large variety of men (half-way through and haven't encountered any women yet) over several decades. Read more
Published 14 months ago by L. E. Metcalfe
Goodbyes to all that
This is an anthology of departing British ambassadors' perceptive, funny, and near-libellous observations on the countries they served in, with tips for the British Government on... Read more
Published 17 months ago by D. LAMBERT
Fascinating
Obviously, the Americans are not the only ones to record negative comments on politicians and politics abroad. Read more
Published 18 months ago by C. Lundt
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