Tony Blair’s A Journey (Hutchinson 2010) became one of the fastest-selling autobiographies of all time when it was published in September 2010. Prime ministerial memoirs have become an important source of information for students of politics and contemporary history. Blair’s book differs in style and, to a lesser extent, substance from those of his predecessors. Unlike them, Blair did not use a ghost writer and this gives his book an informal air that juxtaposes detailed accounts of domestic and international affairs with the phraseology of a ‘regular kind of guy’ (e.g. ‘blimey, get a life’, ‘blah, blah, blah’) — and a section that earned Blair a nomination for the literary Bad Sex Award.
Such was the volume of information spun or leaked by New Labour that Blair’s book reveals little that is new to close observers of British politics. However, Blair does claim authorship of the decision to grant operational independence to the Bank of England, and reveals his misgivings about his government’s legislation on freedom of information and the ban on fox hunting. There are no such regrets on his decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq. In the three most detailed chapters of the book, Blair puts together an earnest and painstaking defence of his actions. But, as the author himself recognises, there is little here that will persuade convinced opponents of the war to reconsider their position.
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