A civil servant's notes on 8 years of political minutiae
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This is a witless, charmless account of the ins and outs of Alistair Campbell's job.
It lacks a narrative imperative and whoever edited this should be ashamed of themselves. It is about 600 pages too long and it ends with a soul destroying 'to be continued'. That Alistair Campbell, and undoubtedly a team of staff, are wasting their time on a continuation of this drudgery is a crime against literature.
The only slightly interesting area is that he creates the impression that John Prescott is more competent than we have been led to believe and Tony Blair less so.
Very, very disappointing.
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100% recommended - probably the most fascinating book I have read
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This is a intriguing insight into the events and characters that defined the last decade. Many extracts are just unmissable, like Putin's meeting with Blair during the Iraq war.
Whilst not always easy reading, his writing style is pretty curt at times, you will certainly get more than paid back as you build up a picture of what its like working in the inner Govermnent circle. Particularly a modern government that has to try and communicate to the public via a British press who appear to have little interest in sharing much positive news about any change in this Country. There are far too many cynics in the UK, partly as a direct result of the press here and many I am sure will have already formed an opinion of Campbell through the media, if you are one of these I urge you to read this book.
Alastair comes across as a tough, intelligent and loyal person trying to do an almost impossible job with real flair.
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A thoroughly enjoyable read.
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This is the first political book I've read. I really enjoyed it. It's a very easy read. Compelling. Hilarious. Revealing. Sad. I found 750 pages wasn't enough. When's the next installment?
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A great read - key message: communicating = thinking!
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Don't want to add much to the other reviews, which I greatly enjoyed and mostly agreed with: this book is an entertaining read, great mix of minutiae (playing football in the back yard at Chequers) with personal opinions of the famous (Putin's killer eyes) and the big events (negotiations with Sinn Fein where the main subject was: Do we all like Des O'Connor!) etc.
But in reading this I understood in a new light the old adage: if you can't explain clearly what you think about something, you haven't properly thought it through. Campbell's role as communications head made it necessary for him to be the 'logic enforcer': to continually challenge colleagues on the quality and clarity of their thinking. Often, they would want to keep things ambiguous, to paper over a few discrepancies, to prevaricate on some misdemeanour, but Campbell (as the guy who would shortly have to face the press) too often found himself as the one who had to confront people and demand clarity. He never forced Robin Cook to leave his wife, or Mandelson to quit, etc. etc. but in demanding the kind of clarity that those politicians were uncomfortable with, he repeatedly forced the pace of events.
After reading this I now see Campbell as more than 'just' a spin doctor, but as a down-to-earth common-sense thinker in a world of 'spin politicians'. A 'think doctor', if you like.
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Very interesting... if you find the subject matter interesting
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I found this book fascinating. I began the book with some respect for AC as a uncompromising, successful individual. My respect for this guy only grew as I worked my way through the book. I don't think he's the villain some have made him out to be.
Biggest surprise for me was discovering just how media-obsessed politicians have become. It really makes you realise just how much influence the media has these days.
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