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A View From The Foothills: The Diaries of Chris Mullin

A View From The Foothills: The Diaries of Chris Mullin

by Chris Mullin (Author), Chris Mullin (Author), Ruth Winstone (Editor)

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    Hardcover 2009

    $3.25

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    paperback

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Synopsis

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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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 448
 Edition: First Edition
 Publisher: Profile Books
Published: 02 Mar 2009
ISBN 10: 1846682231
ISBN 13: 9781846682230
Book Overview: 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.'

Media Reviews
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 *
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 *
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 *
A real landmark ... the first no-holds-barred account of life inside the Blair administration ... they will become as important for future historians as the Crossman, Castle and Benn diaries ... I read it in a weekend and couldn't put it down. -- Paul Anderson * Tribune *
They contain jewels of fine observation and freeze important moments. Mullin has a well-tuned ear for a joke; he is perceptive, self-deprecating and honest * Times literary Supplement *
A real eye-opener * Good Book Guide *
The most valuable set of diaries to emanate from the now interred corpse of new Labour; the most revelatory and also, from time to time, the most entertaining. I'd go so far as to say that, in order to understand new Labour properly, all you need is this book and maybe a brief excerpt from Alastair Campbell's diaries... -- Rod Liddle * Sunday Times *
Chris Mullin's diaries deserve to become the central text for understanding the Blair years -- Peter Riddell * The Times *
His quiet humour and intense personal integrity make this book compulsively readable -- Peter Oborne * Daily Mail *
A pleasure to read, full of gentle humour -- Michael White * Guardian *
The most entertaining and perceptive account of the New Labour era ... It will also stand the test of time long after other more trumpeted accounts have faded from view. -- Sean Flynn * Irish Times *
Deserves a warm welcome from those of us who believe that it is not a bad thing for politicians also to be fully-paid up members of the human race -- Anthony Howard * Sunday Telegraph *
At the moment my favourite Labour MP is Chris Mullin, partly because I enormously enjoyed...'A View From the Foothills' -- William Hague * Independent *
Without doubt the most entertaining account of the New Labour years ... comparisons with Alan Clark ... and Harold Nicholson are certainly apposite ... it is hard to imagine any better account of the Blair years than this. * Scotsman *
Keeping an interesting diary is much harder than it looks. What you do and whom you know is less important than how you see yourself, and how you cope with your inevitable failure. Chris Mullin will go up somewhere into the first division of diarists because he has created a great comic character (the one called Chris Mullin). -- Simon Carr * Independent *
His diary reveals an individual who entered government out of an overpowering sense of curiosity, acting almost under cover on our behalf, to report back on what it and they are really like. Thank goodness he did. Mullin proves it is possible to produce a political diary which can be funny and fascinating - and free of malice. -- Andrew Hosken * The Oldie *
A minister answering parliamentary questions learns which backbenchers to fear ... real danger comes from the quiet questioner who knows his subject. Such a one was Chris Mullin. I learned to respect him when he was on his feet ... His diaries ... are interesting and credible because, unlike those of Alan Clark, they are not designed as a puff for himself. * Douglas Hurd - Total Politics *
The most entertaining and perceptive account of the New Labour era ... It will also stand the test of time long after other more trumpeted accounts have faded from view. * Irish Times *
Probably the most candid view of New Labour from the inside that we will ever get * Yorkshire Post *
Mullin inspires trust: one seldom, if ever, feels that material has been wilfully suppressed or distorted to serve the author. He is straight, decent, in an old fashioned way. * London Review of Books *
A View from the Foothills is his eloquent answer to those who believe that all politicians are in it for themselves. * The Times *
The most enjoyable and stimulating of all the political diaries I have read. -- Jonathan Dimbleby
Author Bio
Chris Mullin has been the Labour MP for Sunderland South since 1987. He chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee and served in three departments. He is the author of the bestselling novel A Very British Coup, which was turned into an award-winning television series. He is married with two daughters. 'As the New Labour era draws to a close there will be no shortage of memoirs from those who have occupied the Olympian heights. This is a view from the foothills.' Chris Mullin