A View From The Foothills: The Diaries of Chris Mullin - Hardcover

Chris Mullin

4.16

711 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1846682231 ISBN 13: 9781846682230

Publisher: Profile Books, 2009

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Chris Mullin has been a Labour MP for twenty years. In that time he has not been afraid to criticise his party. But despite his refusal to toe the party line - on issues like 90 days detention and Africa, for example - he has held several prominent posts. To the apoplexy of the whips, he was for a time the only person appointed to government who voted against the Iraq War. He also chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee and was a member of the Parliamentary Committee, giving him direct access to the court of Tony Blair.

Mullin is irreverent, wry and candid. His keen sense of the ridiculous allows him to give a far clearer insight into the workings of Government than other, more overtly successful and self-important politicians. He offers humorous and incisive takes on all aspects of political life: from the build-up to Iraq, to the scandalous sums of tax-payers' money spent on ministerial cars he didn't want to use. His diary is a joy to read: brilliantly-observed, it will entertain and amuse far beyond the political classes.

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Review:

The most wickedly indiscreet and elegant political memoirs since those of former Tory Minister Alan Clark (Mail on Sunday)

These are the sharpest and most revealing political diaries since Alan Clark's (Simon Hoggart Guardian)

The best first-hand account of the Blair years so far (Andy McSmith Independent 2009-03-13)

A great read, more Alan Clark than Tony Benn, full of acute and dry observation, especially on the lower end of ministerial life. Because Chris Mullin is a writer who became an MP rather than an MP trying to write, there are real gems sprinkled acorss every page, some hilarious, others serious. (Peter Hain Observer 2009-03-15)

As engaging as you would expect from a man with a writer's gift and a reputation for fearless honesty. (Newcastle Journal)

Devastating (Harry Reid Herald, Glasgow)

The most entertaining account of the New Labour years I have read (Eddie Barnes Scotland on Sunday)

By far the most revealing and entertaining to have emerged from the now-dying era of New Labour ... a diary that tells us almost as much about British politics as that great television series, 'Yes Minister' (Economist)

Mullin's well written and profoundly decent book has done an important service for democracy. (Peter Oborne Daily Mail)

Very enlightening, immensely readable. The best diaries since Alan Clark and probably better... (Bill Turnbull BBC Breakfast TV)

Book Description:

Alan Clarke meets Yes Minister in this wry and self-deprecating diary about life in the New Labour Government from 1999 to 2007. Says Mullin, 'It is said that failed politicians make the best diarists. In which case I am in with a chance.'

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