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Lionel Barber

The Powerful and the Damned: Private Diaries in Turbulent Times Hardcover – 5 Nov. 2020

by Lionel Barber (Author)

118 ratings

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A Guardian Book of the Year

'Extraordinary' TONY BLAIR
'Riveting' - PHILIPPE SANDS
'Brutal, brilliant and scurrilously funny' - MISHA GLENNY

The real scoop isn't on the front page

'As FT editor, I was a privileged interlocutor to people in power around the world, each offering unique insights into high-level decision-making and political calculation, often in moments of crisis. These diaries offer snapshots of leadership in an age of upheaval...'

Lionel Barber was Editor of the Financial Times for the tech boom, the global financial crisis, the rise of China, Brexit, and mainstream media's fight for survival in the age of fake news.

In this unparalleled, no-holds-barred diary of life behind the headlines, he reveals the private meetings and exchanges with political leaders on the eve of referendums, the conversations with billionaire bankers facing economic meltdown, exchanges with Silicon Valley tech gurus and pleas from foreign emissaries desperate for inside knowledge, all against the backdrop of a wildly shifting media landscape.

The result is a fascinating - and at times scathing - portrait of power in our modern age; who has it, what it takes and what drives the men and women with the world at their feet. Featuring close encounters with Trump, Cameron, Blair, Putin, Merkel and Mohammed Bin Salman and many more, this is a rare portrait of the people who continue to shape our world and who quite literally, make the news.

Print length

480 pages
Language

English
Publisher

WH Allen
Publication date

5 Nov. 2020
Dimensions

15.24 x 4.06 x 23.5 cm
ISBN-10

0753558181
ISBN-13

978-0753558188
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Product details

Publisher : WH Allen (5 Nov. 2020)
Language : English
Hardcover : 480 pages
ISBN-10 : 0753558181
ISBN-13 : 978-0753558188
Dimensions : 15.24 x 4.06 x 23.5 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 20,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 153 in Business Biographies & Memoirs (Books)
- 409 in Theatre & Performance Artist Biographies
- 2,855 in Social Sciences (Books)

Customer reviews:
118 ratings

Product description

Review

A remarkable book, alternately brutal, brilliant and scurrilously funny ...a gripping page-turner full of sharp pen portraits that reveal the anxieties and vulnerabilities of the rich and powerful. Don't miss it ― Misha Glenny, bestselling author of MCMAFIA, now a major Netflix series

Riveting - a world of power, money, ego and disaster, as witnessed from the front row ― Philippe Sands, bestselling author of EAST WEST STREET and THE RATLINE

Gives the reader an extraordinary personal and professional insight into fifteen years of tumultuous times ― Tony Blair

Vastly entertaining and insightful... Barber saw it all from the front row. An exhilarating read ― Sir Harold Evans ex-editor of the SUNDAY TIMES

A delicious romp, dripping with bon mots about the people and issues Lionel Barber encountered while ensuring the FT thrived in digital times. It's as fine an advertisement for the virtues of journalism as you will find -- Sir Michael Moritz, Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist and sponsor of the Booker Prize

The inside track on fifteen crucial years - from an editor who saw it all ― Mishal Husain, presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme

A must-read by one of the world's most famous journalists ... a real page turner!

― Steve Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone Group

About the Author

Lionel Barber was the Editor of the Financial Times from 2005 until January 2020, widely credited with transforming the FT from a newspaper publisher into a multi-channel global news organisation. During his editorship the FT passed the milestone of 1m paying readers, winning many international awards and accolades for its journalism. The FT was named newspaper/news provider of the year in Britain's press awards in 2008, 2017 and 2019. Other prestigious awards include winning submissions to the Loeb and Overseas Press Club in the US and the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) for editorial excellence. As editor, he interviewed many of the world's leaders in business and politics, including: Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Angela Merkel, Premiers Wen Jiabao and Li Keqiang of China, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani and Presidents Zuma and Ramaphosa of South Africa.

From the Publisher

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Customer reviews

5 star		62%
4 star		21%
3 star		14%
2 star		1%
1 star		3%

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fashion_magpie

That the cover carries an endorsement from Tony Blair says it all.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2020

Verified Purchase

I was excited to read this book having read an extract published in the FT. What could Mr Barber tell us from his meeting the great and good (and not so good)? Not a tremendous amount it seems. After a tedious chapter or so covering his climbing the greasy pole, he does not really offer much depth of insight or reflection on those he has interviewed. There are some pinpoints of interest (e.g. we / I failed to see the EU referendum result) but Mr Barber fails to elaborate. Unsettling is his account of lunching with Jamal Kashoggi followed chronologically with an encounter with MBS - his lack of comment suggests a lack of backbone. I haven't gotten to the bottom of whether or not the endorsement on the cover page by Tony Blair is meant to be ironic or not. The powerful and the damned, indeed. Worth a read but left feeling like Mr Barber is a little self-consumed and could have offered the reader an awful lot more.

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Leopold

Fascinating but flawed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 December 2020

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Fascinating because Lionel Barber, as editor of the FT, had access to and interviewed the world’s most powerful men and women during his fourteen-year tenure of the post.

Presidents, Prime Ministers, oligarchs, bankers, industrialists, authors and politicians of every stripe passed through the FT office or were interviewed in their own palaces and offices. Everybody who was Anybody was interviewed By Lionel Barber,
So the reader has a ringside seat at these interviews together with Barber’ take on the interviewee.

Flawed, because Barber from his FT ivory tower too often missed the big picture.As a committed Europhile he was unable to grasp that that the British electorate might wish to regain control of their laws and their destiny rather have those decided for them by EU bureaucrats that they had never elected. So the result of the 2016 referendum was to him shocking and inexplicable.

Similarly Donald Trump’s victory in the American election later that same year came as just great a shock, as just as great a surprise. I cannot blame him for that, as the circles in which he moved, professionally and personally were wholly insulated from what may loosely be termed “the real world”.

The background to his diaries is his natural concern over the ownership and its editorial independence. Pearson, its British owners sold the title to the Japanese publishing conglomerate Nikkei and Barber’s account of his establishing an eventually successful relationship with Nikkei and a guarantee of editorial independence brings the story to a successful end, at least as far as that Barber is concerned

This is the ideal potted guide to world personalities through the eyes of the FT editor.- who rates himself quite highly - but he also has the good grace to admit his mistakes.

A thoroughly good read - recommended.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

paul manolache

Dreadful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 December 2020

Verified Purchase

One of the worst, if not the worst, books I ever read. The writing style is at best mediocre, which is quite surprising given that the author is an acclaimed journalist. Nevertheless, what makes it appalling is the content. It narrates 15 years of dinner parties and famous people that the author met without any insight, or at the very least, meaningful information being conveyed to the reader. The fact that the author was in charge of the Financial Times at the time of the Financial Crisis or Brexit seems to have escaped him completely, focusing on the latest restaurants around the world where the crème de la crème meets to plan how to exploit their power. Avoid! You'll waste time that you'll never get back.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mr. M. Grossfeld

Must-read page turner for fans of serious journalism

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2020

Verified Purchase

I am devouring this insightful, frank and always entertaining review of 15 tumultuous years of insider reporting on the great and the good. Full disclosure: I am a big fan and faithful reader of the FT, so I may be biased. But I highly recommend this book as live history and excellent writing.

4 people found this helpful

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John Waples

Riveting read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 December 2020

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A tremendous read from the hottest seat in financial journalism. I highly recommend an informative read that is also a page turner

One person found this helpful

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Mrs SM Bell

Well worth a read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 February 2021

Verified Purchase

Well worth a read

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C. Kidd

V good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 January 2021

Verified Purchase

Very interesting to follow how the world changed so much over 15 years. A good read.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

quick delivery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 January 2021

Verified Purchase

It was a Xmas present and just what they wanted !

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