Product Description

The first volume of Anthony Seldon's riveting and definitive life of Tony Blair was published to great acclaim in 2004. Now, as the Labour Party and the country get used to the idea of a new leader and a new Prime Minister, Seldon delivers the most complete, authoritative and compelling account yet of the Blair premiership. Picking up the story in dramatic fashion on 11 September 2001, Seldon recaps very briefly Blair's trajectory to what may now be regarded as the high-point of his leadership, and then brings us right up to date as Blair hands over the reins to his arch-rival, Gordon Brown. Based on hundreds of original interviews with key insiders, many of whose views have hitherto been kept private, BLAIR UNBOUND serves both as a fascinating 'volume two' of this masterclass in political biography and a highly revealing and compelling book in its own right.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176910 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 688 pages

Review
"This account of the Blair era, so soon after its end, is likely to be the fullest for many years. It is a solid foundation stone for history. Even so, it does not quite answer the question: who is Tony Blair? No one could have cast a wider net than Seldon and yet his subject, elusive as ever, somehow slithers through its mesh." --"Observer"

About the Author
Anthony Seldon is the author of several books including the official biography of John Major and the authorised 'biography' of Number 10 Downing Street. He is also the editor of an ongoing series of essays by the foremost political commentators of the time, the latest of which, THE BLAIR EFFECT, was published in 2001.

Customer Reviews

The best book on Blair yet, if not ever.
Judging by the footnotes, this book has been meticulously researched. The author evidently had access to Blair's advisors and close team. More of his witnesess are civil servants than politicians. As a result, it is actually a very balanced analysis. The reviews below miss this point, and are both clearly anti-Blair. This book isn't written to verbally bash the man. There is no reason for the author to be biased. He sets outs the facts, as reported by those close to the key events, and lets the reader interpret and judge the man, rather than the author doing it himself. This surely is the purpose of all contemporary biography. Let us leave it to future historians to decide this man's place in British and world politics.

Thorough, balanced, very good... but not an all time great
This is a very readable book - I enjoyed it and chomped my way through it in no time at all. (Bite sizes structure made it splendid reading on the loo in fact!).

Seldon has clearly had great access to Blair's advisors, though it's a bit light on new material from Blair's politician peers. There's a lot lifted from autobiographies from people like Campbell and Blunkett.

Analysis of issues is strong: very balanced and concise.

But - other than the marvelous blow by blow section on how Blair and his team handled the 7/7 bombings - the book a bit short on the human interest details that could have made this a really great book.

As it stands it's well worth a read for people interested in general modern UK politics, or those wishing to gain an insight in to the machinations of life inside Number 10 during the second half of the Blair years.

First Rate - Highly Recommended
This is a first rate account of the Blair premiership from the dramatic events of 9/11 through to his final handover to Gordon Brown.

The style of writing is highly impressive - Seldon has written a book that captures all the complexity of being Prime Minister (e.g. policy, strategy, tactics, media, global and home-grown issues and of course the huge number of personal and political relationships) As a result there is enough to satisfy everyone and in a slight disagreement with an earlier reviewer, I believe he has very much captured the human element of the story. For example, the passages of the book concerning complex negotiations and the various ploys of all parties are fast paced and made interesting (even coming to agreement on the EU budget!)

It is a concise, balanced judgement all the more remarkable for such a controversial and contemporary politician. I particularly admire the fact that Seldon does not `rush to judge' Blair on any single issue but neither is this any kind of `whitewash'. He clearly is a skilled political analyst who is able to tell the story through the eyes of people involved and the pages of sources is testament to the access he had to key players.

This is a contemporary political biography of the very highest standard. Until future historians gain access to significantly more information - this book will be hard to beat.