Articles tagged book review:
The First 80 Pages of Alastair Campbell
- 14 Jul 2007
Having read the first 80 pages of Alastair Campbell's diaries I have two reactions. The first is that it's a brilliant read and I can't wait to read the rest of it on the plane to Rwanda on Thursday, but the second is that if it is an accurate reflection of the life of a newly...
Book Review: The Political Animal by Jeremy Paxman
- 29 May 2007
I'm reading Jeremy Paxman's POLITICAL ANIMALat the moment, albeit three years late. I'll do a full review when I have finished it, but I was very struck by this passage... Being loved is what so much of contemporary politics is about. In a post-ideological age, the Labour P...
Book Review: The Adoption by Dave Hill
- 4 Apr 2007
It's a terrible admission but I very rarely read novels. In fact, the last one I read cover to cover was Ann Widdecombe's ACT OF TREACHERY about three years ago. However, one of the guests I regularly invite on to my 18 Doughty Street show is the journalist and novelist Dave H...
Book Review: The David Blunkett Diaries
- 10 Feb 2007
Well, put up the bunting, my three month nightmare is over. I have finally, finally completed reading the 870 pages of David Blunkett's diaries. Many of you have wondered why I bothered to start reading it in the first place. I suppose the real reason is because I wanted to se...
Book Review: DC Confidential by Christopher Meyer
- 23 Dec 2006
Christopher Meyer is certainly a colourful character, some would say rather unsuited to the world of diplomacy. But this is an entertaining, if at times infuriating, account of his career in the Foreign Office. Should he have been allowed to write such a book? My view on this ...
Book Review: The Little Book of New Labour Sleaze
- 3 May 2006
Schooled in scandal Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes's timely litany of New Labour's failings overemphasises the same sins that brought down the Tories. With the tide of public support that once buoyed the good ship New Labour now slipping away to leave it high and dry, a...
Book Review: The Devil's Tune by Iain Duncan Smith
- 22 Nov 2003
Just imagine that you are an aspiring Tory MP – yes, I know it’s difficult, but stick with me – and the week after you become an approved Parliamentary candidate you are sent the manuscript of a political thriller with a view to your company publishing it. And then you fi...
Book Review: The Heart Beats on the Left by Oskar Lafontaine
- 6 Jun 2002
Politicians generally fall into two categories – those who yearn for power and know how to use it when they achieve it, and those who revel in being out of the inside loop thereby retaining their ideological purity. Oskar Lafontaine belongs to the latter group. He is a...
Book Review: No, Prime Minister by Teresa Gorman
- 30 Oct 2001
What do the following have in common? Dennis Thatcher, Norman Tebbitt, Anne Widdecombe, David Steele, Lord McKay of Clashfern, Alistair Campbell, Frederich Hayek, Bernard Jenkins, Ian Sproat, Michael Forsythe, Michael Joplin, George Mambiot. I could go on. The unfort...