Blair Unbound

click here for more details, find new or used items	Anthony Seldon, Peter Snowdon, Daniel Collings Our price £6.79 (£9.99) New from £4.74 Used from £4.27 Pages: 688 (Paperback) ISBN: 1847390900 Pub: Pocket Books Pub date: 2008-06-02 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 17016

Reader Reviews:

Meticulously researched but not as 'readable' as the first volume. (0/0 people found this helpful)

Very detailed and meticulously researched but not as 'readable' as Blair (the first volume) possibly because it was a 'project' book - the work of three people over a compressed eight months. Perhaps the subject needed more distance?

For me - count me as one of the thousands who will forever primarily associate Blair with the ill founded decisions re Iraq (Sadly there is nothing in this book that suggests for one moment that Blair was ever considered as much more than Bush's poodle as accused)- it is well balanced and the excellent introduction makes the valid point there is/was more to Blair than Iraq and did have some achievments (Ulster) but what this book and its predecessor drives home is the degree to which government, the country and both Blair and Brown lost out because of the schism beteeen them.

What a pity Blair was never so resolute over Europe and other topics as he was with Iraq because with three terms he had the oppurtunity to secure some significant achievments but again so many issues boiled down to a stand off or fudge because of his relationship with Brown. In retrospect a leadership election in 1994 would have given him a mandate and the country clarity rather than forever have a leader in waiting shackling the hands of the leader which was the reality of much of 1997 - 2007.

The picture says it all (0/0 people found this helpful)

Having seen the picture of Mr Blair on the book cover, I felt that it was safe to assume that this book would not be a whitewash or an attempt to alter history.

The reason I go for biographies is because I prefer 'warts and all' rather than just the good or the bad. Though this is not a biography it is nevertless a book which has been fair. It left me feeling sorry for Mr Blair though rather worried at just how much power a PM possesses. I was naive enough to believe that government was by Cabinet, though never stupid enough to believe that backbenchers counted for much. I recall that some joker once tried to compare T Blair to W Churchill!!

First Rate - Highly Recommended (1/1 people found this helpful)

This is a first rate account of the Blair premiership from the dramatic events of 9/11 through to his final handover to Gordon Brown.

The style of writing is highly impressive - Seldon has written a book that captures all the complexity of being Prime Minister (e.g. policy, strategy, tactics, media, global and home-grown issues and of course the huge number of personal and political relationships) As a result there is enough to satisfy everyone and in a slight disagreement with an earlier reviewer, I believe he has very much captured the human element of the story. For example, the passages of the book concerning complex negotiations and the various ploys of all parties are fast paced and made interesting (even coming to agreement on the EU budget!)

It is a concise, balanced judgement all the more remarkable for such a controversial and contemporary politician. I particularly admire the fact that Seldon does not `rush to judge' Blair on any single issue but neither is this any kind of `whitewash'. He clearly is a skilled political analyst who is able to tell the story through the eyes of people involved and the pages of sources is testament to the access he had to key players.

This is a contemporary political biography of the very highest standard. Until future historians gain access to significantly more information - this book will be hard to beat.

Thorough, balanced, very good... but not an all time great (15/23 people found this helpful)

This is a very readable book - I enjoyed it and chomped my way through it in no time at all. (Bite sizes structure made it splendid reading on the loo in fact!).

Seldon has clearly had great access to Blair's advisors, though it's a bit light on new material from Blair's politician peers. There's a lot lifted from autobiographies from people like Campbell and Blunkett.

Analysis of issues is strong: very balanced and concise.

But - other than the marvelous blow by blow section on how Blair and his team handled the 7/7 bombings - the book a bit short on the human interest details that could have made this a really great book.

As it stands it's well worth a read for people interested in general modern UK politics, or those wishing to gain an insight in to the machinations of life inside Number 10 during the second half of the Blair years.

The best book on Blair yet, if not ever. (28/35 people found this helpful)

Judging by the footnotes, this book has been meticulously researched. The author evidently had access to Blair's advisors and close team. More of his witnesess are civil servants than politicians. As a result, it is actually a very balanced analysis. The reviews below miss this point, and are both clearly anti-Blair. This book isn't written to verbally bash the man. There is no reason for the author to be biased. He sets outs the facts, as reported by those close to the key events, and lets the reader interpret and judge the man, rather than the author doing it himself. This surely is the purpose of all contemporary biography. Let us leave it to future historians to decide this man's place in British and world politics.

Similar Products

Blair

Blair's Britain, 1997-2007

The Blair Years

Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour

Tony's Ten Years: Memories of the Blair Administration

Categories

Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories: