Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12251 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-20
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

The Sunday Times
`Students of government will find Powell's book a treasure trove'

The Observer
`fascinating and fast-moving... an extraordinary book'

The Times
`This is the best-informed rough draft of history so far written by someone who was on the roller-coaster ride to a settlement'

Customer Reviews

Interesting Insight into the Peace Process
This is a very simple book, a narrative history from 1997 to 2007 of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland as seen from the perspective of the British goverment and specifically Powell as Blair's Chief of Staff and chief organiser. The book rattles along covering events more or less as they occur. It's full of last minute meetings, late night telephone calls and exasperation at the changing demands of the parties.

The one problem is that it is so close to the events there is not enough chance for measured reflection. Most of the participants are still involved in politics and I sense that Powell is careful in his comments about people, never daring to be too critical. Infact there is all too little reflection generally, with Powell just narrating events as they happen. It misses periodic pauses to reflect and assess progress and issues. Although he touches on parallels with other conflicts it would have been interesting to develop this more and it would have been interesting to discuss whether the peace process has finally been concluded or whether there are still potential pitfalls to come.

Despite these drawbacks it's an interesting read, and Powell keeps up the pace nicely. He gives a great sense of what these negoiations are and what an exhausting and frustrating process it is. It's well worth a read.

Clear and present diplomacy
I don't think I would have bought this book but when it was given to me as a present (!) I peeked into it, thinking I'd probably take as long to read it as did the eventual outcome of the peace process.

Not at all. Although the actual process is tedious, the author manages to provide a very readable account of the long and laborious road that seems of necessity to be the only way of settling an horrendous problem.

Recommended if you want to learn a lot at very little cost to your temperament!

Behind the Curtain
The settlement of Northern Ireland's grinding conflict owes a lot to demographics; the old protagonists on both sides were tired and looking for a way out before the new generation took over. However it did take a new approach from the British and Irish governments to shift the logjam. Powell's book is well-written and drags laboriously through meeting after meeting that ended in failure as promises made in private were repudiated in public. He leaves many questions unanswered such as the secret information he was getting from inside the IRA that must have helped him evaluate what he was hearing from Adams and McGuinness. The different styles of the blunt but obdurate Unionists and ambiguous, articulate Republicans is fascinating. Powell drops frequent hints that he would like to take his undoubted skills to other areas of conflict but it was his innate understanding of the psychology of the British tribes that made him so effective as a negotiator. Human conflicts can only be resolved by understanding that the enemy is fundamentally acting in good faith. This is a very good book.