Product Description

"The Blair Years" is the most compelling and revealing account of contemporary politics you will ever read. Taken from Alastair Campbell's daily diaries, it charts the rise of New Labour and the tumultuous years of Tony Blair's leadership, providing the first important record of a remarkable decade in our national life. Here are the defining events of our time, from Labour's new dawn to the war on terror, from the death of Diana to negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland, from Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, through to the Hutton Inquiry of 2003, the year Campbell resigned his position at No 10. But above all here is Tony Blair up close and personal, taking the decisions that affected the lives of millions, under relentless and often hostile pressure. Often described as the second most powerful figure in Britain, Alastair Campbell is no stranger to controversy.Feared and admired in equal measure, hated by some, he was pivotal to the founding of New Labour and the sensational election victory of 1997. As Blair's press secretary, strategist and trusted confidant, Campbell spent more waking hours alongside the Prime Minister than anyone. His diaires - at times brutally frank, often funny, always compelling - take the reader right to the heart of government. "The Blair Years" is a story of politics in the raw, of progress and setback, of reputations made and destroyed, under the relentless scrutiny of a 24-hour media. Unflinchingly told, it covers the crises and scandals, the rows and resignations, the ups and downs of Britain's hothouse politics. But amid the big events are insights and observations that make this a remarkably human portrayal of some of the most powerful people in the world. There has never been so riveting a book about life at the very top, nor a more human book about politics, told by a man who saw it all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1127 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 816 pages

Rod Liddle, Sunday Times
'This is a gripping, compelling and genuinely revelatory read'

Matthew Parris, The Times
'A brilliant, absorbing account...These diaries...will be gasped at, and
relied upon, for decades to come. Buy them: they will suck you in'

Roger Lewis, Sunday Express
'Who the hell does he think he is?'

Customer Reviews

A Tale of Office Politics
Campbell has a sharp eye for personal description and these pull the reader through the book, they are funny and rude. He has no confidence in the abilities of MPs and Cabinet Ministers. Sadly neither Blair nor Campbell were able to encourage the abilities of those who could have been working with them, instead they laughed at them.The book shows the egoism and fragility of both men, who steamrolled others throughout their reign.
The book was also totally dishonest about so many political incidents. EG: the contentious Dome, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Mandelsons's resignations are all skated over. There is no development and no analysis, political or otherwise. On this level the book is a lightweight sham.
Campbell obviously needed people to see that he had got his story out there first. Campbell was Blair's Office fixer and this is the only level on which the book works.

The Blair Years - but where was Brown?
It is probably inevitable that Alastair Campbell, as a New Labour supporter, would be reluctant to rock the boat while there was still a chance that the party could retain power at the next election. However, a book about the Blair years that barely touches on the relationship between Blair and Brown, and especially the oft-reported animosity between them, cannot be said to offer a balanced view.

This book was sold as an excerpt from the diaries, so perhaps the next volume, which will presumably be published either after the Tories have defeated New Labour, or after Gordon Brown has done so much damage to the party that nothing Campbell said could make things worse, will be more illuminating.

That being said, this volume provides an insight into Tony Blair's premiership, and his relationship with others in his cabinet, and with other world leaders.

As a journalist, Alastair Campbell knows how to write well, and to hold the reader's interest. I look forward to his next volume, because it might explain why the office of Prime Minister was apparently handed on a plate to somebody who proved to be incapable of handling it. Were there no signs during the previous ten years that Brown has reached the limit of his abilities, and was not fitted for the highest office? I think we should be told - and I hope that Alastair Campbell will oblige!

Written for publication, but even so...
Firstly, the down side: it's been edited. By Campbell himself. Which means that the juiciest stuff is either on the floor or, more probably, being held back until Labour is no longer in power and we can look forward to THE CAMPBELL DIARIES: THE EXTENDED EDITION! And this is a pity - there are times when you know the good stuff has been snipped out. And that's why it's 4 stars and not five (although it's long enough already, mind, so I'd not want to read a longer book)

Because the rest of it, for political anoraks, is fascinating. A genuine insight into how Number 10 works, and what it is like to be prime minister. Yes, it's biased (of course it is), it's self serving and it has a very one eyed view of the press; but that was his job. What particularly interested me was how much wider his role went than just press - he was an all purpose adviser and clearly for a long time the second most influential man in the country.

Worth a read