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When leaving a foreign posting, Britain's ambassadors were encouraged to write a valedictory despatch until the practice was abolished in 2006. Unlike the usual style of the diplomatic bag, these last reports from foreign posts were unbuttoned, indiscreet and often very funny. There was much settling of scores, some poking fun of foreigners, a degree of moaning about the privations of Embassy life - and sometimes a bit of serious analysis too.
Based on a very successful BBC radio series, Matthew Parris, who once worked for the Foreign Office and had the task of distributing the despatches, and Andrew Bryson have compiled an always entertaining and frequently hilarious volume of the best of them.
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About the Author:
Andrew Bryson is a radio journalist working in the BBC's Business and Economics Unit. He set about making Parting Shots for BBC Radio 4, after reading a column by Matthew Parris about valedictory despatches in The Times. As well as producing the series, Andrew researched the material - a contrast to his day job behind the scenes as a producer on BBC Radio 4's Today programme and Radio 5 Live, and occasionally in front of the microphone.
Matthew Parris is a columnist for The Times for whom he was previously a parliamentary sketchwriter. He was a Conservative MP from 1979 until 1986, and once worked for the Foreign Office. He says that it was after reading one of these valedictory addresses that he decided to give up his career there. His highly acclaimed autobiography Chance Witness was published by Penguin.
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- PublisherViking
- Publication date2010
- ISBN 10 0670919284
- ISBN 13 9780670919284
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number6
- Number of pages400
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PARTING SHOTS: Undiplomatic diplomats - the ambassadors' letters you were never meant to see
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Viking, London
(2010)
ISBN 10: 0670919284
ISBN 13: 9780670919284
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. This copy is in new, unmarked condition bound in red cloth covered boards with bright gilt titling to the spine. This copy is bright, tight, white and square. The unclipped dust wrapper is in as new condition. International postal rates are calculated on a book weighing 1 Kilo, in cases where the book weighs more than 1 Kilo increased postal rates will be quoted, where the book weighs less then postage will be reduced accordingly. Matthew Parris's Parting Shots is a treasure trove of wit, venom and serious analysis. Up till 2006 a British Ambassador leaving his post was encouraged to write what was known as a valedictory despatch, to be circulated to a small number of influential people in government. This was the parting shot, an opportunity to offer a personal and frank view of the host country, the manners and morals of its people, their institutions, the state of their cooking and their drains. But it was also a chance to let rip at the Foreign Office itself and to look back on a career spent in the service of a sometimes ungrateful nation. Combining gems from the archives with more recent despatches obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Parting Shots sheds light on Britain's place in the world, revealing the curious cocktail of privilege and privation that makes up the life of an ambassador. Matthew Parris had a short career in the Foreign Office where one of his tasks was to distribute incoming valedictory despatches. He was a Conservative MP from 1979 to 1986, since when he has worked as a journalist. Ref QQQ 3. Seller Inventory # 029553
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