The Alastair Campbell Diaries: Volume Two: Power and the People

‘A belter’ Independent ‘Instantly captivating’ Spectator In this second volume of his unexpurgated diaries, Alastair Campbell gives the inside track on the big economic, social and political changes that a revitalised Labour Party brought about following its landslide election victory in 1997. One of the government's greatest triumphs, the Northern Ireland peace process, is described here in detail, from the high of the Good Friday Agreement to the deadly low of the Omagh bombing. Tensions between the big players are never far from the surface, and difficult and unexpected events crowd in: sex scandals – Robin Cook at home, Bill Clinton abroad; party-funding scandals; and issues of judgement such as Welsh secretary Ron Davies' ‘moment of madness’ on Clapham Common, and the loan from Geoffrey Robinson which led to the first of Peter Mandelson's resignations from the Cabinet. Then comes tragedy: the death of Princess Diana and the extraordinary period of worldwide mourning that followed. Meanwhile Campbell paints intimate portraits of the foreign leaders who become central in Blair’s life – Bill Clinton, Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schroeder, Jacques Chirac, Boris Yeltsin, Nelson Mandela, and the Chinese as they take control of Hong Kong. Power and the Peoplebegins as Tony Blair appoints his first Cabinet, and ends as he mobilises international support against ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. And Campbell is with him every step of the way. Combining the eye of the journalist with the insight of the strategist, Campbell’s diaries are candid, funny, thoroughly absorbing, and a major contribution to the history of the Blair years. ‘Although there has been no shortage of memoirs from the New Labour era, this is without doubt the most authoritative. Campbell is no ordinary spin doctor.’ The Times 'Alastair Campbell's diaries have the quality of Pepys ... people will be looking for insights and finding them in 100 years' time' Lord Alex CarlileCamp, Grace is the author of 'The Alastair Campbell Diaries: Volume Two: Power and the People', published 2011 under ISBN 9780099493464 and ISBN 0099493462.