Cook, like many another superficially cerebral Scottish politico (cf David Steel) came to Parliament from a background in University achievement and solid political base-building. Eventually he became Foreign Secretary, but made the mistake of criticizing Israel, after which his relationship with his secretary (later, wife) Gaynor, suddenly came to public view, leaving an angry first wife floundering noisily in the wake of the affaire.

The book is a reasonably good read and does have some startling and disturbing insights, or, rather, anecdotes, into the Blair type of administration. Particularly dark is the way people such as a journalistic careerist, Alastair Campbell, exercized direct power over ministers, sometimes mouthdroppingly so, as when Campbell takes Cook's briefcase and tells him, damn nears ORDERS him, to go do something! There was a time when it was something to be a British Cabinet Minister...

Cook, like Alan Clark before him, seems to covet his M.P. and ministerial rank and is willing to rather kowtow to the Prime Minister to retain both. A weak Foreign Secretary, he found a better role as Leader of the House. Worth reading.

The second main narrative strand focuses upon his attempts to reform Parliament and strengthen it as an institution. He clearly loves Parliament, and works hard to ensure that the House of Commons is a stronger chamber.

All through this book there is a real sense of frustration - mainly directed at Tony Blair. He is frustrated that the Labour Party feels unable to resist moves towards war I Iraq, and through the book adopts a consistent and entirely logical argument as to why this should be the case. He is also deeply frustrated that the Government cannot see the merits of Parliamentary reform, on which he was thwarted a number of times, often by other figures in the Government.

This is an exceptionally interesting book on a number of levels. For those interested in politics it reveals the process through which policy passes - I was surprised at how much dissent there was within the government towards different aspects of the Government's proposals. At the same time it was interesting how united ideologically the Labour party is, with the exception of Number 10. Robin Cook appears to be friendly with a number of Ministers who are usually regarded as being Blairite - most specifically Alan Milburn and Steven Byers.

There also a lot here for the casual reader - the book is shot through with moments of humour, and it is interesting to read about the peculiarities of ministerial life. This book is definitely worth investigation.