A Journey

Will certainly become a bestseller -- Robert McCrum * The Observer * Tony Blair's memoir is part psychodrama, part treatise on the frustrations of leadership in a modern democracy . . . The book's broader purpose is to preserve his legacy, settling scores, justifying the war against Iraq, and mounting a defiant plea to his party to keep faith with New Labour . . . Blair comes across as likable, if manipulative; capable of dissembling while wonderfully fluent; in short, a brilliant modern politician -- Lionel Barber * Financial Times * He is by turns outspoken, provocative, unrepentant, often serious, sometimes funny -- David Frost * Al Jazeera * This is a more honest political memoir than most and more open in many respects than I had anticipated. He is compellingly candid about how scared he was when he first became prime minister . . . He is unusually direct about his calculations, even when they don't reflect well on him . . . He admits to stretching the truth beyond `breaking point' to secure a settlement in Northern Ireland. Even when the lies are told in a noble cause, few politicians are honest enough to admit that they sometimes feel compelled to be deceivers -- Andrew Rawnsley * The Observer * Written in a congenial style peppered with slang and gossipy asides. At one moment he is the bloke in the pub. The next, he is Churchill -- Ben MacIntyre * The Times *