A Journey
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3.2 • 78 Ratings
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- £9.99
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
In 1997, Tony Blair won the biggest Labour victory in history to sweep the party to power and end eighteen years of Conservative government. He remains the only living Labour leader to have won a general election.
He has been one of the most dynamic leaders of modern times; few British prime ministers have shaped the nation's course as profoundly as Blair during his ten years in power, and his achievements and his legacy will be debated for years to come.
His memoirs reveal in intimate detail this unique political and personal journey, providing an insight into the man, the politician and the statesman, and charting successes, controversies and disappointments with an extraordinary candour.
A Journey will prove essential and compulsive reading for anyone who wants to understand the complexities of our global world. As an account of the nature and uses of power, it will also have a readership that extends well beyond politics, to all those who want to understand the challenges of leadership today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Critics who dubbed Britain's ex-prime minister "Tony Blur" for his allegedly substance-free politics swaddled in gauzy PR won't have their minds changed by this nebulous memoir. Blair's brief for his "ground-breaking" New Labour platform reads like a marketing plan: it's all about middle-class "aspiration," "focusing on the developing tastes of consumers," and "modernization," the glossed-over particulars being a muddle of small-bore education, health-care and law-and-order initiatives. The Iraq War is a similar "battle between modernizers and reactionaries," according to Blair's high-minded justification, a battle which would have gone well but for the meddling of Al Qaeda and Iran. He writes like an ad executive "it had to be dignified, it had to be different, and it had to be Diana," he says of the laudably "modern" princess's funeral but his candor can be bracing. He paints comic scenes of excruciating audiences with dull dignitaries and the weekly torment of Prime Minister's Questions, is nakedly spiteful toward his Labour rival and successor Gordon Brown, and never hides his preoccupation with image-crafting and media relations. ("Look like a prime minister," he reminds himself on election night.) Blair reveals himself to be savvy, charming, and sometimes earnest and impassioned, but never quite a statesman.
Customer Reviews
Blair
Iraq may have been his down fall but it's unbelievable the politics within politics just for power,and we found out in 2010 and now the reforms Brown resisted are being done by Cameron.Labour could end up in political Wilderness forever. Blair meant well and loved his country but the interventionist foreign policy was maybe a tad too far,however I can't see many of current crop of politicians with his common sense and vision for a better Country for all and world peace.
He was a statesman and like he's reiterated,if he was Tory,the press pack would hail him a hero,funnily that is UK mentality and like he said if it was in USA,it would be different,Im not a fan of the US but undeniably,it's the land of opportunity no matter your background,colour,creed or accent.If UK adopted that attitude and embraced everyone as one of us,a lot of expertise,knowledge and intelligence as well as work ethic would put this country in good stead.Unfortunately it will never happen.
Blair exposes his own vanity but the no holds barred account is the best thing and would recommend the whole electorate read this book.
Thought provoking at least, inspiring at best!
A Journey is a very interesting book. I am not an avid reader of political memoirs or in fact an avid reader of books over 300 pages. BUT, this was trully interesting. Hearing his reflections on the people he met and interacted with and most of all worked with to me was fascinating. This book did not dry up by the end, the juices kept on flowing throughout. It gives a unique insight into the thought and ethos that went into developing New Labour and of course it gives the ususal and some more unusual comments about the Iraq War and President Bush! I did enjoy this, it was a bit of a Marathon, but Tony is such an iconic and world changing figure in my view that it is a must read to understand the late 20th and early 21st Century in all its glory!
Leadership at its best
Want to learn about the world of politics and be inspired about how to lead a country a company or yourself, then look no further.
Through the honesty of Tonys writing (I feel like I know him on a first name basis) I laughed and I learnt so much from his experiences.
I sat there and thought what would I do in this situation (foot and mouth disease, fuel crisis, death of Diana to Iraq). Tonys prime ministership - full of real life crisis - not a text book, but a book of case studies on leadership.
As a avid reader of autobiographies this one is a real gem. Some may say that Tony tries to justify his actions - it's his life and his book so who wouldn't.
There is so much take home value. A must read for anyone who is in business or impacted by politics (that would be all of us).