Breaking The Code: The Brandreth Diaries: Westminster Diaries, 1992-97 (Hardcover)

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Amazon.co.uk Review
It has, for no especially good reason, been the convention that Government Whips not publish their memoirs, let alone their diaries. Gyles Brandreth's account of his five years in Parliament, and of his time as a Whip in the dying days of the Major Government, enjoyably trash that convention to give a memorable and entertaining account of days of drift and uncertainty. Brandreth has a good ear, and a sense of his own absurdity; he was placed to see disorganisation and disloyalty from close at hand, and is touching in his admiration for Major himself, whom he sees as a nice and able man with an impossible task. There are some entertaining stories, some of them new, and vitriol poured impartially on the press, Labour politicians and Tory disloyalists--and moments of charm in his tributes to his wife and dead friends like Simon Cadell and Stephen Milligan. The book also provides answers to the difficult questions of what private secretaries and Whips actually do--in Brandreth's case, the answer seems to be endless damage control in a doomed situation. There is an odd telling moment when he finds Peter Mandelson asleep in the Commons library with a Filofax on the table beside him--and virtuously abstains from peeking. --Roz Kaveney

Product Description
Like Alan Clark's Diaries, Brandreth's are not offering a formal account of Government in the 1990s - far from it. These diaries start in 1990 when Brandreth, after a multifarious career in theatre, television and publishing, decided that he wanted to become a Tory MP. The diaries open with his application to get on the Candidates' List, finding a seat (Chester), the 1992 General Election, and his arrival at Westminster as a 'new boy'. All good diaries need set pieces, and Brandreth provides several, in particular working as a Tory Whip when the Tory majority was steadily in decline and every vote counted. No one has ever told the inside story of the Whips' Office because there has been an unwritten rule that what goes on inside remains confidential forever after, but Bradnreth's diaries will break with tradition. There is an all-star cast (Princess Diana to Bill Clinton, Joanna Lumley to John Profumo), plenty of gossip and some intriguing scenes such as sharing dinner with Richard Nixon and Jonathan Aitken, being set up with a prostitute by the News of the World, and falling backwards into the Prime Minister's secret loo in the middle of midnight talks on the future of Northern Ireland. The political cast inevitably includes Jeffrey Archer, Norman Lamont and Neil Hamilton among others. As the publishers of Chips Channon, Nicholas Henderson and Alan Clark it is vital that any political diaries we publish should stand comparison. Brandreth may be a lighter-weight politician but his diaries genuinely reflect life in the last Tory Government of this century. They are also great fun.

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I spoke, not very well, at the London Playing Fields Society Centenary Dinner at the Savoy. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

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14 Reviews 5 star:  (10) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:  (2) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.4 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   6 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Camp, witty, stylish....enough about me...this is a triumph!, 9 May 2002 By  "jaguar00" - See all my reviews This review is from: Breaking the Code: Westminster Diaries, 1992-97 (Paperback) Gyles Brandreth's (he of odd jumpers and word games) account of how he came to be elected and serve as a Member of Parliament. Cutting (could he really say that about the fellow Tory he succeeded!!!), brutally honest account of the characters he came across. His best mates appeared to have been Neil Hamilton, Jonathon Aitken and Stephen Milligan and he does admit to a lack of judgement at various stages in the book - indeed he celebrates his amatuerism, a brilliant David Mellor putdown of Brandreth is included showing that this author despite all the flaws he readily admits to, has a humility not found in the A.Clark diaries. Excellent, full of inuendo, a book which for the most part makes politics interesting even if by the end he wasn't too unhappy to leave. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   8 of 9 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent gossipy romp through the bizarre Major years, 20 Nov 2000 By A Customer This review is from: Breaking the Code: Westminster Diaries, 1992-97 (Paperback) This book is a minor political masterpiece, and I say this as an avowed lefty. Its genius lies in the fact that it can be read on two levels. Firstly as a magnificently gossipy, fruity ( occassionally bitchy) romp through the frankly bizarre Major years. Secondly, though, one also gets a deceptively acute analsis of the theatre of absurdity that is our parliamentary process. Mercifully, this book is largely free of the fluff and nonsense that many a TV viewer may associate the author with. Indeed, Brandreth's self-deprecatory humour throughout is one of the book's principle charms. This certainly ranks alongside Alan Clark's diaries and for me is ultimately a warmer and more human book. I would recommend it heartily to anyone with even a smidgen of political curiosity, with the possible exception of the mercilessly lampooned Harriet Harman. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars An amusingly indiscreet view of politics - with undertones, 7 Sep 2000 By A Customer This book is fun. On its evidence, Gyles Brandreth is a born storyteller (and collector of anecdotes) and a delightful gossip. For reasons which he doesn't make very clear he chose - and this wasn't an easy thing to accomplish - to become a conservative MP in the stormy final years of John Major's administration. This placed him in a fine position (ending in the Whips' Office, the very centre of the firefighting) to chronicle the muddle and plotting of those five years. The awfulness of it all is vividly recounted. If I were putting together Labour's campaign for the next election, I think I would simply have chunks of this book broadcast. No further comment would be needed. Though the book is mostly lighthearted, there are some touching undertones - such as Mr Brandreth's tributes to his wife and his response to the illness and death of close friends. There are some darker undertones too, as various Tory MPs are disgraced. Again, I felt touched by Mr Brandreth's loyalty to, for instance, the Hamiltons and Jonathan Aitken. Whatever one thinks of these people, loyalty is a good thing. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 14 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly witty and a fascinating view of John Major's government. Brandreth's Westminster diaries cover the period 1990-7 - from when he got a yen to become a Tory MP, through getting elected, and then finally losing his seat in the 1997... Read more Published 12 months ago by Annabel Gaskell 5.0 out of 5 stars Perceptive and hilarious Gyles Brandreth is a terrific diarist and a vastly underrated writer - this is funny, perceptive, shrewd, wonderfully indiscreet, massively readable, and should be required... Read more Published 15 months ago by Anne-Elisabeth Moutet 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun This is a superb book. It makes politics human. It shows how politicians can have wonderful talents but at the same time terrible flaws. Read more Published on 4 April 2006 by William Cohen 3.0 out of 5 stars Gloss but not much else 'Breaking the Code' follows Giles Brandrith's period as an MP in what proved to be the last 4 years of Major's government. Read more Published on 31 Aug 2003 by belsizepark 3.0 out of 5 stars Derek Nimmo lives on ...I found Brandreth's stories and style not too bad. He has given us a few glimpses of the blimps that inhabit the portals of power and I imagine he has been crossed off a good... Read more Published on 28 Aug 2001 5.0 out of 5 stars a great read! I came upon this by chance in Nottingham - and what a find it was! It is funny, gripping, wicked and a great document of Major's Britain. Read more Published on 6 Jun 2000 4.0 out of 5 stars Rambling, fun and interesting I read this as part of my preparation for my thesis on John Major's government - for which it was wholly inappropriate! Read more Published on 4 May 2000 5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly engrossing and extremely funny I was rushing out to catch a plane I was extremely late for, and grabbed the first thing on my 'to read' list as I ran out the door, which turned out to be this. Read more Published on 20 Jan 2000 by Jennifer Colgan 5.0 out of 5 stars Witty,engaging and irreverent. What a wonderful book, witty, engaging and irreverant, Political memoirs peppered with hilarious anecdotes. Read more Published on 17 Nov 1999 5.0 out of 5 stars Elegantly written, observant and generous. Gyles Brandreth is a renaissance man: publisher, novelist, script writer, columnist, television personality, theatre producer, radio talk-show host, ex MP - and now political... Read more Published on 21 Oct 1999 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 14 customer reviews...

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