Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13085 in Books
• Published on: 1989-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Customer Reviews

Intelligent, clever humour.
The relationship between Jim Hacker, Sir Humphrey and Bernard Wooley are brilliantly detailed in this collection of the episodes. Instead of the normal transcribe of scripts that one expects in humour series books, the episodes are carefully presented in diary form. We learn all the information through a variety of diaries, official documents and letters from different sources. The clever humour of the television series is not lost in the translation and in fact possibly increases. It is possible that the book form is even better than the television series (excepting the brilliant acting).
This is clever humour that does not dumb down for anyone and gives a corrageously accurate depiction of the British civil service.

The Real Thing
This is the definitive text book on how British politics works.

It is essential reading for students of politics to save wasting time on all those theoretical constitutional tomes, and for anyone who ever comes into contact with government - it will reassure you that your experiences are not unique but are part of an overall pattern of creative inertia. Sir Humphrey should be the role model for all civil servants who want to get on in their careers and want to prevent their political masters getting on in theirs. There is no evidence that Sir Humphrey is a reincarnation of Machiavelli but it is highly likely. How did earlier generations cope without this masterpiece?

Can never be read too often.

More than just a show...
All three of these books (The Complete Yes, Minister, The Complete Yes, Prime Minister, Vols.1,2) are much more than just transcripts of the TV show. Filled with as much humor and keen political insight as the series upon which they are based, they are wonderful creations in their own rights.

Although they retell the same stories as were shown on tv, they have been adapted very nicely to the written word. Although some of the material doesn't translate as well, other parts of the stories benefit from being presented in writing.

This book does for government bureaucracy (or bureaucracy of any kind) what Catch-22 did for the military, only better. Perhaps the greatest testament to the authors' skill is the fact that they are able to make scathing political commentary without being reduced to hopeless cynicism nor petty meanness. The characters, even while manipulating the system to their own ends and scheming against each other, preserve a certain innocence. Even the bumbling Hacker and Sir Humphrey (a cross between Machiavelli and Uncle Screwtape) come to be regarded with fondness and are missed when the last page has been turned.