A Fortunate Life: The Autobiography of Paddy Ashdown

A Fortunate Life: The Autobiography of Paddy Ashdown

by PaddyAshdown (Author)

Synopsis

Paddy Ashdown's autobiography was hailed as one of the most readable and exciting political life stories ever written of all - precisely because it was so very much more. This is the autobiography of an old-fashioned Man of Action, an adventurer, to be compared more readily to Fitzroy Maclean than David Steel. Ashdown's years as MP for Yeovil and leader of the Liberal Democrats pale alongside his time as a Royal Marine Commando, in the Special Boat squadron, as a spy, on military service in Northern Ireland and Indonesia, and then subsequently - perhaps his finest and most heroic role, as the UN's High representative in war-torn Bosnia. As one reviewer remarked: This must be the first political memoir to offer advice on the best way to execute a jungle ambush and on how to treat an open wound using red ants. Ashdown's appeal - which explains this books's hardback bestseller status - is that he transcends party political allegiances, and is seen as a genuinely honest and decent man unafraid to take on the hardest challenges.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Edition: First Paperback Edition, First Printing
Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd
Published: 25 Apr 2010

ISBN 10: 1845135229
ISBN 13: 9781845135225

Media Reviews
'Less a political autobiography than a real-life Dangerous Book for Boys, and all the better for it. This is more than anything else an adventure story. Fascinating and uplifting and genuinely, without irony, heroic, the sort of book you should read to your kids, just to let them know what can be done' -- Rod Liddle Sunday Times 'To anyone inclined to political cynicism, I would urge you to read this book. Ashdown emerges as a man of serious standing, a good man, a principled man, a man who commands your respect entirely' The Times '[An] action-packed, pacey, lyrical and sweetly honest book... This is the autobiography of a good man' -- Matthew Parris Spectator 'Even James Bond would put down Ashdown's A Fortunate Life and reflect that his own life seemed suddenly rather monochrome' Daily Telegraph
Author Bio
Paddy Ashdown spent the first seventeen years of his adult life serving his country as an officer in the Royal Marine Commandos, a member of the Special Boat Service and as an employee of the 'shadowy side' of the Foreign Office. He then went on to become Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil and leader of his party, and the international community's High Representative in war-torn Bosnia. He currently sits in the House of Lords. He is author of two books for Aurum: A Brilliant Little Operation, which tells the story of the Cockleshell heroes of World War Two, and his autobiography, A Fortunate Life.