The Last Diaries: In and Out of the Wilderness [Kindle Edition]

The majority of The Last Diaries is Clark's typical brand of frank political observation and insight, focusing on the years from the fall of Thatcher, through his retirement, to his reselection as MP for Kensington and Chelsea in 1997. This part covers some of the most interesting recent history of British politics with the fall of the Conservative party and the rise of New Labour.

The end of the book is the terribly harrowing portrayal of Clark's illness, as his hypocrondria, a feature of the previous two diaries, is suddenly vindicated. The portion his wife, Jane Clark, writes when Alan becomes too ill to write is one of the most poignant pieces non-fiction I've ever read.

A superb complement to the previous two diaries, with the three in total comprising the most thouroughly readable, enjoyable and insightful political diary of the last 30 years. An absolute must.

The third volume of Alan Clark's Diaries are as compelling as the previous two volumes and are the equal of, if not superior to, the original volume published in 1993. In and Out of the Wilderness covers the period from 1991, when the initial volume finished, up to his death in 1999, with the final pages comprising Jane Clark's account of the illness that killed him.

The volume features much of the political intrigue that was present in Diaries: In Power - Clark details his final days in government before the 1992 general election, the fall-out surrounding publication of the volume of Diaries and the Scott Inquiry into Arms to Iraq following the collapse of the Matrix Churchill trial. Even better, we are treated to the machinations of life in the Commons after the 1997 general election, at which he had been elected as MP for Kensington & Chelsea. He frequently despairs of William Hague's leadership, and enjoys calculating how he himself could become Leader of the Opposition. What is interesting with hindsight is his firm belief that the Tories failed to make ground by not being right-wing enough, when the accepted wisdom is that it was a retreat to the right that made the Conservative party unelectable. Indeed, this is a debate that continues to this day within the party, especially following Cameron's failure to win an outright majority in 2010.

We also receive insight into his turbulent personal life - the book starts with him enjoying an intense affair that leaves him contemplating leaving his wife, but as he renews his love for her we are treated to (possibly too much) information about his sex life, and the usual slew of indiscretions. It is unusual to read such a graphic account of the sex life of the over-sixties, and his accounts amount to more than mere novelty, and are most touching.

What makes this a powerful volume is the account of his swift descent in illness, and Jane's account of his final days. Clark was one of life's hypochondriacs, but his illness was fairly swift once his brain tumour was diagnosed. The end of the book is exceptionally powerful and moving, and did not leave me dry eyed. He continued to write as long as possible, and we witness him consciously taking pleasure in his favourite pleasures for the final time as well as showing great concern for how Jane would continue following his death.

Alan Clark was one of life's rogues, and whether you regard him as loveable or not is a matter of personal taste. What cannot be disputed, however, is that this is an exceptionally enjoyable volume that sees him confirm his place in the front rank of political diarists.

This set of extracts from the Clark diaries comes from the years immediately following Diaries: In Power, and what a change in tone they reveal: in the first book, he lives life recklessly - his politically-attuned, career-aware brain at odds with the priapic abandon that he displayed when conducting his (not so) private life; his writing liberally punctuated with snarky comments about colleagues that lesser egos might have thought twice about committing to paper. This volume finds him out of Westminter, out of the loop, worrying about his health (sadly, with hindsight, his suspicions would prove to be correct); impotent and bored, complaining about / examining these issues with regularity, and for the most part unhappy but at the same time aware of how lucky he is.

It's not until he re-enters parliament (half-way through the book) that glimpses of the old, dashing 'devil-may-care' Clark appear; for the most part, his sharp tongue and laconic wit aren't really in evidence. His love for animals is touching, but there's little of substance in his life for him to bite with any ascerbity. The diary only comes back into life when he is back at the centre of things again - until then it's mundanities: to-do lists on the properties he owns, issues with his collection of cars... that sort of thing. The honesty, as always, shines through though. Just as it starts building up pace his health starts to really fail, and it hits home for how long just how ill he has been.

It's no secret that he dies before the end of this volume - it concludes with his wife Jane's entries, describing his last days. Very sad, and the whole book was, in retrospect, quite depressing. Like watching some sort of sleek wild jungle animal in old age, unable to be what it used to be, but unwilling to accept that the good old days of being top dog are past.

I found this volume slightly disappointing as a read; it's a sad way to end a story that had sustained itself with such flourish and vigour up to this point.