Product Description

A stunning biography of the Nobel Peace Prize- winning politician. David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, is one of the unlikeliest and most complicated political leaders of our times. Long reviled by nationalist Ireland and much of mainland opinion as an awkward and flinty loyalist extremist, both his admirers and detractors agree that the Belfast Agreement could not have been made without him. This taciturn ex-Queen's University law lecturer and lover of opera has become the first Unionist leader to enjoy international recognition, being praised by the Nobel Peace Prize committee for his 'great political courage' and regularly visiting the White House. But in the process, he has been excoriated as a traitor by many of his one-time supporters. In this stunning new biography, Dean Godson has been given unique access to the politician and his papers. In addition to conducting over one hundred hours of interviews with Trimble and his wife, Godson has spoken to over three hundred friends, foes and colleagues of the Unionist leader -- including Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, Mo Mowlam, Peter Mandelson, John Hume, John Major and John Bruton. He has also enjoyed privileged access

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #450802 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-21
• Binding: Paperback
• 1024 pages

Andrew Marr, Daily Telegraph
' a meticulous traditional political biography of a kind rarely written these days...he has done an awesome amount of work...'

Mail on Sunday
'A triumph of scholarship, readabilitiy and acute political analysis....a tremendously impressive work'

The Observer
'...absorbing... a fascinating portrait of Trimble.'

Customer Reviews

Brilliant! Only Dean Godson Could Have Done It.
Only Dean Godson, the tough, savvy chief leader writer of the London Daily Telegraph, with his unparalleled contacts on all sides of the Northern Ireland divide, could have crafted this subtle, exceedingly penetrating portrait of the most unlikely of the Ulster peacemakers. Much superior to anything else now available on this crucial subject.

Political Biography of the Year
Dean Godson's book deserves to be read by anyone thinking of entering politics. Even if you do not have the slightest interest in Ulster you should consider reading it as a political parable for our time. It is a British political version of 'Citizen Kane'. Trimble comes across as a decent man that is led astray by a combination of cunning and temptation. In fact, Trimble was so obsessed, over a peroid of thirty years, with the cause of restoring devolved government to Northern Ireland that, in the end, he was willing to bargain with terrorists and in doing so lost his constituency of support.