Product Description

When Tony Blair entered Downing Street on 2 May 1997 Britain seemed a different place. On that brilliant spring day the country suddenly appeared fresher, brighter -- a marked contrast to the greyness of the dog days of the Major government. That early optimism was in large part a reaction to the personality of Blair himself. The acceptable face of a Labour Party he had already modernised beyond recognition, his charisma and drive won two successive three-figure majorities. But with the triumphs have come allegations of arrogance, of hubris. Was this an inevitable consequence of supreme, almost presidential power, or were these traits always there? We know Blair is a religious man, but what really motivates him? Rejecting the constraints of formal biography, Anthony Seldon has produced a profile of the Prime Minister that rewrites the bibliography of Blair studies. Focusing on the curious interplay between the key episodes of his life and career and the key advisers he has courted so ardently, it assesses the Blair psychology in all its forms, including his pathological fear of alienating middle-class voters and his unprecedented contempt for the media. Gripping and revelatory, it is a major book about the man who has shaped modern Britain.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1786233 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 768 pages

About the Author
Anthony Seldon is the author of several books including the official biography of John Major and the authorised 'biography' of Number 10 Downing Street. He is also the editor of an ongoing series of essays by the foremost political commentators of the time, the latest of which, THE BLAIR EFFECT, was published in 2001.

Customer Reviews

politician with principles, but, strangely no policies


This is a 700 page book, written originally in 2004. I read it in March 2007, with Blair's departure expected soon. The basic message is that Blair is a brilliant advocate, and, contrary to popular belief, espouses fixed principles, but has very shallow attention span to the details of policy. There are hints that his self-confidence in his abilities to govern domestically is quite low also, hence the kow-towing to Gordon Brown. Blair's triumphs - Northern Ireland, Kosovo, are seen as largely achieved through personal persuasion rather than clear thinking.
Each chapter focuses on a turning point or a character which was influential in Blair's make up (God is one of the characters). This is a clever device, and breaks up the text nicely. The writing is clear and the viewpoint, while judgemental, is not overtly partisan. Reading through the book, I came to the view that the eighteen years out of power were absolutely traumatic for the Labour party and British Politics, and are evident in the severe lack of ministerial talent on the front benches, the obsession with spin and the press and the schizophrenic nature of the Labour party - largely despising itself (and Blair) for its success, and afraid to mention anything like equality or redistribution, which were its founding principles.
I found Blair's character both more sympathetic and flawed than I had expected at the outset. He is seen as very short term, very determined in electoral politics. Seldon laments that Blair has never issued a set of detailed policies stating his domestic agenda (i.e. there are Blairists (partisans), but no Blairism (policy). Blair is painted as quite bemused and exasperated with Clinton (a surprise to me) and quite fundamentally aligned with the neo-cons in the war on Terror (the extent of his commitment is a surprise), in fact the only books Blair is quoted as reading are tomes on Theology.
As you might expect it is the relationship with Brown - initial his junior, then his rival, then his boss, that threads through the volume. It is implicit in Sheldon's account that Blair feels his government would not have been as successful without Brown - financial and political stability, but equally it would not have been as stifled either. To use Bono's analogy, Brown and Blair are the Lennon and McCartney of British politics, I suspect Blair is McCartney - without Brown his government would have been Wings (remember them? No? oh well) , with him it was The Beatles.