John Major The Autobiography - Hardcover

Capt Hannington Apudo

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002570041 ISBN 13: 9780002570046

Publisher: Lakerair, 2011

Synopsis

Hannington Apudo s autobiography is one of the most personal ever written by this pioneer. As the first Kenyan commercial pilot, this account of his life has been eagerly awaited. Apudo s life was extraordinary, from humble beginnings with difficulties, he rose through aviation meteoric. So how did he do it? This book not only reveals the secrets of Apudo s remarkable success but also draws out universal lessons and strategies that can be applied to any business or career.

About this title

Review:

John Major's rise to the post of British prime minister is a puzzle of modern politics that his lengthy autobiography fails to resolve. It is clear, as we follow him from his modest origins in south London to his work as a local councillor and his remarkable ascent at Westminster under the eye of Margaret Thatcher, that he was driven by a determination to prove himself. But now that we are growing used to the messianic zeal that Tony Blair brings to the role of prime minister, it seems extraordinary that John Major should have achieved the position with such little evident vision or relish. Here is the man we thought we knew, decent, hard-working; at the mercy of events rather than their master.

So we find him bowed down by the misfortunes of an ungrateful world, rendered defensive by problems with the economy, by arguments over Europe, by the intractability of politicians in Northern Ireland, by attacks from within his own party.

With that same party busy airbrushing him from its history--despite his unlikely victory over Neil Kinnock in 1992--it's as well he has got his account into print, an unstuffy telling of a fascinating story that is free of the pomposity that affects so many of his political peers and which reveals a deep-seated belief in the value of basic decency. "I will not concede possession of the recent past to the mythographers of left or right who have every self-interest in retouching the history we made," he says.

But how sad to find him still so defensive and so bitter about the slights of others, still anxious to explain why speeches or gestures were misconstrued. "I was too conservative, too conventional. Too safe, too often. Too defensive. Too reactive," he says. But could he have been anything else? --Kim Fletcher

Review:

‘Compelling...a classic of holding the reader’s attention which many fiction writers might envy.’ Roy Jenkins, Evening Standard

‘Unsparing...vivid...witty as well as wise.’ Geoffrey Howe, Independent

‘One of the few post-war political autobiographies that will endure...compulsively readable and remarkably objective...deeply moving.’ Bruce Anderson, Daily Telegraph

About this edition

• Publisher: Lakerair
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0002570041
• ISBN 13: 9780002570046
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 774