Product Description
Tony Blair is a politician who defines our times. His emergence as Labour Party leader in 1994 marked a seismic shift in British politics. Within a few short years, he had transformed his party and rallied the country behind him, becoming prime minister in 1997 with the biggest victory in Labour’s history, and bringing to an end eighteen years of Conservative government. He took Labour to a historic three terms in office as Britain’s dominant political figure of the last two decades.
A Journey is Tony Blair’s firsthand account of his years in office and beyond. Here he describes for the first time his role in shaping our recent history, from the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death to the war on terror. He reveals the leadership decisions that were necessary to reinvent his party, the relationships with colleagues including Gordon Brown, the grueling negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland, the implementation of the biggest reforms to public services in Britain since 1945, and his relationships with leaders on the world stage—Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, George W. Bush. He analyzes the belief in ethical intervention that led to his decisions to go to war in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and, most controversially of all, in Iraq.
A Journey is a book about the nature and uses of political power. In frank, unflinching, often wry detail, Tony Blair charts the ups and downs of his career to provide insight into the man as well as the politician and statesman. He explores the challenges of leadership, and the ramifications of standing up, clearly and forcefully, for what one believes in. He also looks ahead, to emerging power relationships and economies, addressing the vital issues and complexities of our global world.
Few British prime ministers have shaped the nation’s course as profoundly as Tony Blair, and his achievements and his legacy will be debated for years to come. Here, uniquely, we have his own journey, in his own words.
About the Author
Tony Blair became an MP in 1983, leader of the Labour Party in 1994, and was prime minister of the United Kingdom from May 1997 to June 2007. Since leaving office, he has served as the Quartet Representative to the Middle East, representing the U.S., the UN, Russia, and the EU in working with the Palestinians to prepare for statehood as part of the international community’s effort to secure peace. In May 2008 he launched the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which promotes respect and understanding among the major religions. His Africa Governance Initiative works with leaders and their governments on policy delivery and attracting sustainable investment in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. He also works with world leaders to build consensus on an international climate-policy framework.
Tony Blair’s book offers insights on alliances
USA Today, September 4, 2010
LONDON — The alliance between George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair was extraordinarily tight, but Blair says that closeness may never have occurred without 9/11. “If Sept. 11 hadn’t happened, and we hadn’t had these major security questions that we then had to deal with together, it might have been different,” Blair said in a Wednesday interview about his memoir, A Journey: My Political Life. In the book, Blair describes Bush as having more integrity than nearly every other leader he has met. And despite their political differences, he grew to like Bush because “I found him straightforward and clear,” Blair said by phone from Washington, where he is taking part in Middle East peace talks. [Read the full article...]
Tony Blair pelted with eggs and shoes at book signing
guardian.co.uk, September 4, 2010
DUBLIN - Skirmishes broke out between protesters and police at the first public signing for Tony Blair’s memoirs, with shoes and eggs hurled at the former prime minister. Four men were arrested and charged with public order offences for their part in the protest this morning outside Eason’s bookshop on O’Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, which involved anti-war demonstrators and the Continuity IRA-aligned Republican Sinn Féin, who oppose the Northern Ireland peace process. A Garda spokesmen said the four men – two in their late teens and two in their mid-30s – were released from custody and will appear before Dublin district court on various dates later this month. [Read the full article...]
Tony Blair’s A Journey: Andrew Rawnsley’s verdict
guardian.co.uk, September 5, 2010
It is Tony Blair’s boast that he wrote every word in longhand “on hundreds of notepads”. That I believe. He was the most brilliant communicator of his era as a platform speaker or television interviewee, but he can be a ghastly writer. Anyone thinking about taking this journey needs to be given a travel advisory: much of the prose is execrable. No cliche is avoided. Loins are girded, leashes are strained at, die are cast, lights appear at the end of tunnels and wounds are rubbed with salt. The Vatican is “an amazing place”. Princess Anne “is a chip right off the old man’s block”. Princess Diana “captured the essence of an era”. Derry Irvine is “like the proverbial dog with the bone”. Many of the chapters are as badly planned as the invasion of Iraq. There are abrupt jumps from this year to that and back again. He will launch into one subject and then suddenly lurch off in an entirely different direction. [Read the full article...]
Tony Blair’s A Journey breaks sales records
guardian.co.uk, September 8, 2010
Despite predictions that Peter Mandelson beating him into print would damage sales of Tony Blair’s autobiography, the former prime minister’s book has trounced his erstwhile spin doctor’s to become one of the fastest-selling memoirs ever – presumably pretty solid consolation for having had his publication party at Tate Modern cancelled. Blair’s A Journey sold 92,060 copies in its first four days on sale last week, according to Nielsen BookScan – the best ever opening week sale for an autobiography since the book sales monitor’s records began, in 1998, and well ahead of Mandelson’s The Third Man’s performance, which sold 14,960 copies in three days when it was published in July. [Read the full article...]
Tony Blair book launch party cancelled
guardian.co.uk, September 8, 2010
Tony Blair today cancelled a second event scheduled to mark the launch of his memoirs after anti-war campaigners prepared to mount a protest against him. Guests invited to a party at the Tate Modern art gallery in central London to celebrate the publication of the former prime minister’s autobiography, A Journey, have been told that it has been postponed, a spokeswoman for Blair’s publishers, Random House, said. Campaigners against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had planned to demonstrate outside Tate Modern, and criticised the gallery for allowing the party to be held there. [Read the full article...]
Blair Memoir a Hit, Despite a Few Hard Knocks
New York Times, September 8, 2010
Tony Blair has always been a man of contradiction, and the latest is this: Even as angry, protesting crowds are forcing him to cancel long-planned publicity events in London, his book is selling as if he were the most popular person alive. In Britain, according to Nielsen BookScan, “A Journey” has sold 92,000 copies in hardcover in less than a week — the company’s best opening week for an autobiography since it began keeping figures in 1998. In the United States, where his publisher has printed an additional 25,000 copies since its first printing of 50,000 copies, the book is to make its debut on The New York Times’s hardcover best-seller list at No. 3 on Sept. 19. On Amazon, it is already selling at No. 13 for all books. [Read the full article...]
Liberty medal awarded to Tony Blair
guardian.co.uk, September 14, 2010
Tony Blair received the Liberty medal in Philadelphia last night “in recognition of his steadfast commitment to conflict resolution”. The medal is awarded annually by the National Constitution Centre to individuals or organisations whose actions aim to bring liberty to people worldwide. ”To be free, is to be responsible for the freedom of others,” said Blair in a brief acceptance speech in the east coast American city. There were no protests at the ceremony and the former prime minister was given a standing ovation after being presented with the award by Bill Clinton, the centre’s chairman. The warm reception contrasted sharply with a book signing in Dublin when eggs and shoes were thrown at him. Blair cancelled an event for his memoirs, A Journey, at the London Tate Modern gallery, as well as a book signing in central London, when anti-Iraq war campaigners prepared to mount a protest. [Read the full article...]
