Product Description

It is, as Chris Patten notes, a funny old world. And it seems to be getting funnier by the day. The global triumph of liberal democracy, with the world made in America and Europe’s image, has failed to materialize. What will take its place? Here Patten draws on his many years at the highest levels of international affairs to tackle the big questions of our time – from energy shortages to the arms trade, immigration to the ascendancy of the East – offering a wise, witty and surprisingly optimistic account of the world today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27928 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Review
'Chris Patten is the best foreign secretary Britain never had ... Every thinker on, or practitioner of, international affairs will profit from reading any book that Patten writes on foreign policy' - Denis Macshane, Independent 'Exquisitely written ... he is an eloquent and wise voice in a cacophonous world' - Lionel Barber, Financial Times 'An extremely impressive book. It is a very long time since a leading British politician produced anything so ambitious, or as well written.' - Guardian, John Gray

Review
'If a few of tomorrow's policy-makers read Patten, my optimism that we can control rather than be controlled by events will grow. Every thinker on, or practitioner of, international affairs, will profit from reading any book that Patten writes on foreign policy'

About the Author
Chris Patten is currently co-Chair of the International Crisis Group, on the Anglo-Indian Round Table, and Chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle Universities. As a British MP 1979-92 he served as Minister for Overseas Development, Secretary of State for the Environment and Chairman of the Conservative Party, being described afterwards as 'the best Tory Prime Minister we never had' (Observer). He is well known for being the last Governor of Hong Kong 1992-97, about which he wrote in East and West (1998). Both that and his most recent book, Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths about World Affairs (2005), were No 1 international best-sellers. He was made a Companion of Honour in 1998 and a life peer in 2005.

Customer Reviews

Comments by Michael Calum Jacques, author of '1st Century Radical'.
This is a good book, entertainingly written and both stimulating and challenging in terms of its topic and content. Published recently (towards the end of September)and weighing in at in excess of 500 pages it is also an absorbing read. But what exactly is it about? Like the rest of the book, the title is pretty clear and open about this.

Even so, it would be easy for certain readers to take one look at the book's topics and shudder; these include the vexed subject of globalisation, energy shortages, international crime syndicates, the worry of both nuclear proliferation and small arms proliferation, international drugs 'trafficking', climate change, water shortages, varieties of population migration, various epidemics, the denigration and deterioration of the nation 'state' concept as well as that old burner, weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

The author, Chris Patten, makes a point, it seems to this reviewer, of tackling this demanding and, to some, actually threatening range of subjects with a great deal of honesty and candour. There are no easy solutions and there probably or possibly, at least, may never be. We begin our path to solving a problem by looking it squarely in the face and acknowledging its existence. So the author acknowledges that precious little of recent history has 'turned out' as we probably expected it would say twenty years ago, and then he moves on to make suggestions of what an individual (and collectively, 'society') can do in order to begin a recalibration and 'setting right' of all these apparently modern ailments. Patten writes with the insight of bridalled experience and the perception of a careful listener and observer of society's traits and characteristics.

This work has already been described as Chris Patten's "most ambitious and impressive yet". This reviewer, for one, would agree with that assessment and commend this book to potential readers, especially to those who are tentative about recent history and those who find themselves pessimistic and fearing what they perceive to be a forbidding future.

Michael Calum Jacques (author of 1st Century Radical: the shadowy origins of the man who became known as Jesus Christ)

Could do better
I am a great fan of Chris Patten and much enjoyed "Not quite the diplomat". This book does not match it. The puzzle is: why?

It was a good concept to review the challenges facing our world. The issues covered include: climate; crime; drugs; energy; epidemics; food; free trade; globalisation; migration; water; and weapons. What is more, there are many interesting and useful facts about each. In fact at times it is like reading an encyclopaedia but without the ability to easily return to the facts.

I think the problem lies in poor structure and excessive length. At 448 main pages it could have been 200 fewer and the better for it.

It is a stimulating read but harder going than it need be. Maybe it is because I read it sandwiched between two much better books (Descent into Chaos and Bottom Billion) that I reluctantly only award it 3 stars.

Tour de horizon
The trouble with a tour de horizon at a time like this is that the book reads like a Rough Guide to Insoluble Problems. Chris Patten's book is masterful in its scope and depth. He really disects the problems which the world is facing. He himself remains optimistic about our chances of success. But we seem to be in such deep trouble that it is hard for the reader to keep his chin up. Great book but depressing!