Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths About World Affairs

by Chris Patten (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2005

  $4.54

  Chris Patten is nobody's poodle' Guardian Not Quite the Diplomat describes what has been happening in Britain, Europe and the world since 1997 from the perspective of one at the heart of international events. In examining how we got to where we are, he writes frankly about many of the major players and what happened behind closed doors; his sketches of world leaders - including Chirac, Putin, Kohl, and Blair (a man who has convictions to which he holds strongly - while he holds them') - and of key moments are done with the brush of a master portraitist. In arguing about where we should be, he writes with the directness of a man freed at last from the bonds of diplomatic restraint. No recent book by a politician of any political persuasion has been so engaging, so outspoken - and often so funny. If Chris Patten is no longer the diplomat, it is the readers of this book who are the beneficiaries.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.29

  Part memoir, part remedy for the state we're in, with liberal sprinklings of common sense, Chris Patten's Not Quite the Diplomat is a frank and funny book from a very outspoken politician. After spending several years in the thick of international events, Chris Patten has seen rather a lot of the world - and the people who run it. And now he's free from the bonds of diplomacy, he doesn't have to be quite so careful about what he says. Here he gives us his forthright views on everything from the Tories' downfall to America's empire, from whether Blair has any political convictions to why Britain should start liking the French. 'Masterly, elegant, sprightly, wry ... the best political reading of the year' James Naughtie, The Times Books of the Year 'A garnering of rich personal experience ... Frank and vivid ... without betraying any confidences or relationships of trust (Sir Christopher Meyer, please note)' The Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year 'Elegant, warm, witty, stylish and readable ... If politics were sane, appointments to ministerial rank anywhere would be conditional on reading, digesting, understanding and acting upon the wisdom of this book' Independent 'Patten writes with wit, elegance and passion, showing a candour and courage uncommon among politicians' Sunday Telegraph Chris Patten is currently Chairman of the BBC Trust, and Chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle Universities. He is well known for being the last Governor of Hong Kong 1992-97, about which he wrote in East and West (1998). Both that and his most recent book, Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths about World Affairs (2005), were international best-sellers.