The Blair Years was a taster. Prelude to Power reveals the diairies uncut. And it is just the beginning.
Alastair Campbell was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, in 1957, the son of a vet. After graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in modern languages, his first chosen career was journalism, principally with the Mirror Group. When Tony Blair became leader of the Labour Party, he asked Campbell to be his press secretary. He worked for Blair - first in that capacity, then as official spokesman and director of communications and strategy - from 1994 to 2003, since when he has been mainly engaged in writing, public speaking, working for Leukaemia Research, where he is chairman of fundraising, and continuing to advise Blair, Gordon Brown and other leading Labour figures. His first novel, All In The Mind, and an accompanying award-winning TV documentary, Cracking Up, led to him being voted Mind Champion of the Year. A second novel, Maya, was published earlier this year. He lives in North London with his partner of thirty years, Fiona Millar, and their children, Rory, 22, Calum, 20, and Grace, 16. His interests include running, cycling, playing the bagpipes and following the varying fortunes of Burnley Football Club.
There are plenty of nuggets here that are fascinating, some
passages that make you wince and others that are gripping. It has
historical value.
*Observer*
Campbell is a compelling diarist . . . [with] vivid set pieces . .
. The Campbell Diaries provide the fullest insider account so far
of new Labour's ascent to power.
*The Times*
Campbell's world is the brutal, angry, hard-driven, joky,
football-crazed and intensely male world of tabloid journalism. He
is a fluent and industrious reporter, with amazing stamina: it is
quite a feat, at the end of days dealing with the press on Blair's
behalf that he managed to get this account down.
*Telegraph*
Hugely gripping . . . all of human life is here. It makes The Thick
of It look tame. And sane.
*Sunday Times*
The abundance of extra detail throws up some richly comic moments .
. . Campbell's writing has much of the brutal honestly of [Alan]
Clark's.
*Sunday Telegraph*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
