Product Description

Tony Blair is a politician who defines our times. His emergence as Labour Party leader in 1994 marked a seismic shift in British politics. Within a few short years, he had transformed his party and rallied the country behind him, becoming prime minister in 1997 with the biggest victory in Labour’s history, and bringing to an end eighteen years of Conservative government. He took Labour to a historic three terms in office as Britain’s dominant political figure of the last two decades.

A Journey is Tony Blair’s firsthand account of his years in office and beyond. Here he describes for the first time his role in shaping our recent history, from the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death to the war on terror. He reveals the leadership decisions that were necessary to reinvent his party, the relationships with colleagues including Gordon Brown, the grueling negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland, the implementation of the biggest reforms to public services in Britain since 1945, and his relationships with leaders on the world stage—Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, George W. Bush. He analyzes the belief in ethical intervention that led to his decisions to go to war in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and, most controversially of all, in Iraq.

A Journey is a book about the nature and uses of political power. In frank, unflinching, often wry detail, Tony Blair charts the ups and downs of his career to provide insight into the man as well as the politician and statesman. He explores the challenges of leadership, and the ramifications of standing up, clearly and forcefully, for what one believes in. He also looks ahead, to emerging power relationships and economies, addressing the vital issues and complexities of our global world.

Few British prime ministers have shaped the nation’s course as profoundly as Tony Blair, and his achievements and his legacy will be debated for years to come. Here, uniquely, we have his own journey, in his own words.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #213035 in Books
• Published on: 2010-09-02
• Released on: 2010-09-02
• Format: Deckle Edge
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.57" h x 1.53" w x 6.57" l, 2.43 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 700 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307269836
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

From Publishers Weekly
Critics who dubbed Britain's ex-prime minister "Tony Blur" for his allegedly substance-free politics swaddled in gauzy PR won't have their minds changed by this nebulous memoir. Blair's brief for his "ground-breaking" New Labour platform reads like a marketing plan: it's all about middle-class "aspiration," "focusing on the developing tastes of consumers," and "modernization," the glossed-over particulars being a muddle of small-bore education, health-care and law-and-order initiatives. The Iraq War is a similar "battle between modernizers and reactionaries," according to Blair's high-minded justification, a battle which would have gone well but for the meddling of Al Qaeda and Iran. He writes like an ad executive--"it had to be dignified, it had to be different, and it had to be Diana," he says of the laudably "modern" princess's funeral--but his candor can be bracing. He paints comic scenes of excruciating audiences with dull dignitaries and the weekly torment of Prime Minister's Questions, is nakedly spiteful toward his Labour rival and successor Gordon Brown, and never hides his preoccupation with image-crafting and media relations. ("Look like a prime minister," he reminds himself on election night.) Blair reveals himself to be savvy, charming, and sometimes earnest and impassioned, but never quite a statesman. (Sept. 2) (c)
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From Booklist
The longest-serving Labour prime minister of Britain, and still a figure on the international political stage, Blair recalls in detail the events of his premiership. He covers lots of actions and activities and shares with forthrightness his thinking on world and domestic issues he had to confront; on the other hand, on occasion he does play his cards close to the vest, avoiding a complete “spilling” of his thoughts about a certain situation he had then and now. Blair’s view of the late Princess Diana is discerning; of his successor, Gordon Brown, hardly affectionate; of George Bush (the younger), certainly controversial. Consciousness of his public image was never far from how he acted in office and now how he writes about his actions. Behind the scenes in the halls of power is always an interesting place to go, and Blair takes us there with delight on his part and on our part, from weekending with the royal family in Scotland to the nerve-racking “Prime Minister’s Questions,” when the PM must face inquiries (read “criticism”) from the opposition MPs. A necessary purchase for all public-library contemporary political-memoir collections. High-Demand Backstory: Reviews everywhere and author appearances on major television shows indicate just how much interest in this book is out there. --Brad Hooper

Review

“Unusually compelling reading for a political memoir.”
            -Best Books of 2010, Financial Times (UK)
 
“Instructive—particularly on the art and discipline of centrist leadership.”
            -John Avlon, Favorite Books of 2010, The Daily Beast
 
“Especially welcome.  Luckily A Journey is not one of those leaden bricks of official reminiscence.  The tone is confiding, informal and forthright . . . A Journey is a deeply personal book, full of candid revelations . . . It provides a priceless glimpse into the mind of the man who devoted himself to the transformation [of the Labour party]—and who stood by America in some of its darkest recent hours.”
            -Martin Rubin, The Wall Street Journal
 
“Engaging and insightful . . . A better than usual contribution to the literary genre of political memoir.”
            -Claude R. Marx, The Boston Globe
 
“Well-written and perhaps unintentionally self-revealing . . . Blair reveals himself through his thrusting political ambition, his rationales for decisions, his preoccupation with public image and his determination to play a prominent role on the world stage.”
            -Leonard Downie Jr., The Washington Post Book World
 
“Engrossing . . . Blair writes honestly and openly. The style is not the elegant Oxbridge prose that might have been expected of a former prime minister but one filled with Americanisms. It is breezy, informal and candid enough to keep the reader thoroughly engaged.”
            -Fareed Zakaria, The New York Times Book Review
 
“Fluently written . . . Engaging . . . Some of the most quoted bits of this book will doubtless include Mr. Blair’s thumbnail sketches of colleagues and acquaintances.”
            -Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
 
“That Blair was a formidable politician can be seen in the glimpses we get of how his mind works . . . You are left thinking two things: that it would be a blessing if some of today’s politicians took note . . . and that, whatever your view of Blair, you still wouldn’t want to take him on in an election.”
            -John Lanchester, The New Yorker
 
“A political biography of unusual interest . . . Blair is one of the great politicians of this generation and that makes his candid moments particularly interesting.”
            -Tim Rutten, The Philadelphia Inquirer
 
“Compelling . . . Candid and comprehensive.”
            -Glenn C. Altschuler, Tulsa World
 
 “Uncommonly candid . . . A vividly rendered account of life in office, with plenty of beneficial pointers to aspiring politicos on either side of the Atlantic.”
            -Starred review, Kirkus
 
“Discerning . . . Behind the scenes in the halls of power is always an interesting place to go, and Blair takes us there with delight on his part and on our part.”
            -Booklist
 
“Blair’s candor can be bracing.  He paints comic scenes of excruciating audiences with dull dignitaries and the weekly torment of Prime Minister’s Questions . . . and never hides his preoccupation with image-crafting and media relations.  Blair reveals himself to be savvy, charming, and sometimes earnest and impassioned.”
            -Publishers Weekly