Did he buy his own furniture?, 02 Nov 2008
If the late, great Alan Clark had never existed, someone needed to invent him. A clever, verbose, rich, well-connected Lothario whose life was peppered with famous names and places, AC could have come straight from some Mary Sue novelette. You can tell I admire him, but he clearly has his faults. At times reading these diaries, you can see the real snob in him, looking down upon the lower echelons (of which I am one) with a waspish disdain. Yet as you progress through this compelling book, I believe he's not all black and white. He hates yobbos - who doesn't? He ran a large estate yet disliked bloodsports. He condemns the throwing on the scrapheap of working class men from numerous depleted industries. He's cynical and at times a whinger. But he's also blunt and very entertaining. All those parliamentarian's are brought to earth with a bump, at least in the reader's esteem, as Mr Clark calls them names such as "fat creep" and much worse. This book serves as an interesting fly-on-wall account of the Thatcher years, and more importantly, of the Machiavellian shufflings that led to her downfall.

AC passed away in 1999 but I recall one of his last appearances on Question Time. He was so sharp, quick witted and sarcastic that the audience were eating out of his hand - very few politicans of any ideology can claim to do that.

I'm into politics, so to me this book is worth 5 stars. If you're not, you may only rate it at a "measly" 4.

All the fascination of a car wreck, 27 Feb 2005
This, and the other diaries, make excellent, though disturbing, reading. There's no political thought as such here, rather the thoughts of a man who was a member of, and a junior minister in, the Conservative government which led the country for 18 years. A self-styled member of the "upper classes", we get his thoughts on the "lower classes" but not on any real issues. At one point he comments that he expected to become Prime Minister, but we don't find out why. The nearest to a political credo seems to be "the upper classes are better than the lower classes and they should run the country". Welcome to the 18th Century; presumably Thatcher's Victorian values were a bit modern for him. There are some excellent moments, including a footnote on a bizarre theory promoted by Tory toffs that Thatcher wasn't the daughter of Grocer Roberts of Grantham but was fathered by some upper-crust dilletante (the reason given for her having aristocratic "blood" is that she has small feet!!), and the account of Thatcher's fall is marvellous; but whilst Clark was highly intelligent and an excellent writer, he was ultimately a reactionary, priveliged butterfly. He'd probably take that as a compliment.

A tremendous read and re-read...., 06 Sep 2004
Alan Clark's diary is a book that the reader can read and re-read, find favourite passages time and time again and then quite unexpectedly discover new entries that will become the new favourite passages.
The book follows Clark through his time as a Junior Minister and his successes, failures and plotting in his various posts, his endless trips abroad and wasted afternoons in pointless and tedious meetings and visits to his constituency. He longs to have higher office but probably knows that cerrtain 'indiscretions' and his often radical views will rule him out of this. Clark's views are wide-ranging and radical and strong views are expressed ranging from animals to the 'lower classes'. He also expresses admiration for unlikely opponents such as Dennis Skinner MP and cries when he is forced to shoot a heron. This is what makes him such a fascinating individual. He is not predictable and the reader does not know what to expect next.
The reader also sees Clark and his rich and varied private life - at points it seems he exists to only spot pretty girls in the crowd. What does come through, however, is his love for his wife, although, as he himself says, he often treats her badly, and his love of his trips to Zermatt and Scotland. This is a man who is privileged and has lived well.
The other editions of the diaires are also well worth reading and I defy anyone not to be moved to tears at the end of the final volume.
In conclusion many readers may find Clark unlikeable but they must ask themsleves what would the public reaction be to the publication of their own diaires?? Read this book, enjoy it and take it with a pinch of salt and hope that more individualistic politicians such as Clark will enter public life.

Political or not - you should read this book, 05 Mar 2001
A brilliant warts-and-all expose of the United Kingdom's runaway political party of the 1980's. Deeply honest, often brilliant, occasionally slipping into self-pitying apathy, Alan Clark documents a uniquely personal (and, many would say, uncomfortably realistic) view of the steamroller that was Thatcherism. Balanced by an enviable personal account of his time as one of the upper classes, this book delivers pleasure by the bucket-load on many levels. Overall, an immensley enjoyable and insightful read - even if, like myself, you do not share his views, background, politics, etc. The world is a poorer place without Alan Clark.

A classic political biography, 25 Sep 1999
Alan Clark's diaries are a compelling read. The man may be pomposity personified, hold unbelievably snobbish views on the importance to Britain of the landed gentry and his sheer vanity can take your breath away, but his personal charm oozes out of the book. He's frank, funny, articulate and (as he keeps on telling us) deeply intelligent. He's not afraid to put on paper things that remain only in most people's subconscious. There's a lovely early entry when, installed in his first ministerial office, he wonders if urinating from his seventh floor window on the pedestrians below might be enough to get him sacked. They'd hush it up he concludes - but doesn't test his theory.

Alan Clark's political views belong to a different (before his own) era, but his insights into the political process, his proximity to the hub of Government during the Thatcher years and the pure recklessness of his entries make this a great book.

Love her or hate her, there is no escaping the impact that Margaret Thatcher has made upon post-war British Politics. The 1980s are indelibly marked as the Thatcher years, and her rise from Grantham grocer's daughter to Finchley MP in 1959, Leader of the Conservative Party by 1975, and Prime Minister by 1979 was as tenacious as it was controversial. Since being ousted from power, biographers have been busy reassessing her legacy. By far the most distinguished account to date is John Campbell's Margaret Thatcher. Volume One: The Grocer's Daughter. Campbell's credentials for the job are impeccable, having already written the acclaimed biography of Thatcher's great rival, Edward Heath, winner of the 1994 NCR Book Award. As he explains from the outset, this is not an authorised biography, but Thatcher's office made no attempt to prevent the reconstruction of Thatcher's life from her birth in Grantham to her entry into Downing Street. This is a blessing, as Campbell's immensely readable and even-handed book challenges the idealised myth of Thatcher's early life and indoctrination into the "Victorian values" of her Methodist father Alderman Roberts. According to Campbell, Thatcher reinvented herself as a wealthy Home Counties lady, through her difficult years at Oxford, marriage to Denis, and sexist responses from her party throughout her early years in Opposition. However, as her status as a "conviction politician" grew, and with the General Election of 1979 looming, she radically changed her image: "In place of the Home Counties Tory lady in a stripy hat, married to a rich husband, whose children had attended the most expensive private schools, she forced the media to redefine her as a battling meritocrat who had raised herself by hard work from a humble provincial background." Campbell's story is always compelling, his research meticulous, and his sweep of the political skulduggery of the 60s and 70s masterful. Margaret Thatcher is an absorbing story of the creation of a modern political myth. --Jerry Brotton

Did he buy his own furniture?, 02 Nov 2008
If the late, great Alan Clark had never existed, someone needed to invent him. A clever, verbose, rich, well-connected Lothario whose life was peppered with famous names and places, AC could have come straight from some Mary Sue novelette. You can tell I admire him, but he clearly has his faults. At times reading these diaries, you can see the real snob in him, looking down upon the lower echelons (of which I am one) with a waspish disdain. Yet as you progress through this compelling book, I believe he's not all black and white. He hates yobbos - who doesn't? He ran a large estate yet disliked bloodsports. He condemns the throwing on the scrapheap of working class men from numerous depleted industries. He's cynical and at times a whinger. But he's also blunt and very entertaining. All those parliamentarian's are brought to earth with a bump, at least in the reader's esteem, as Mr Clark calls them names such as "fat creep" and much worse. This book serves as an interesting fly-on-wall account of the Thatcher years, and more importantly, of the Machiavellian shufflings that led to her downfall.

AC passed away in 1999 but I recall one of his last appearances on Question Time. He was so sharp, quick witted and sarcastic that the audience were eating out of his hand - very few politicans of any ideology can claim to do that.

I'm into politics, so to me this book is worth 5 stars. If you're not, you may only rate it at a "measly" 4.

All the fascination of a car wreck, 27 Feb 2005
This, and the other diaries, make excellent, though disturbing, reading. There's no political thought as such here, rather the thoughts of a man who was a member of, and a junior minister in, the Conservative government which led the country for 18 years. A self-styled member of the "upper classes", we get his thoughts on the "lower classes" but not on any real issues. At one point he comments that he expected to become Prime Minister, but we don't find out why. The nearest to a political credo seems to be "the upper classes are better than the lower classes and they should run the country". Welcome to the 18th Century; presumably Thatcher's Victorian values were a bit modern for him. There are some excellent moments, including a footnote on a bizarre theory promoted by Tory toffs that Thatcher wasn't the daughter of Grocer Roberts of Grantham but was fathered by some upper-crust dilletante (the reason given for her having aristocratic "blood" is that she has small feet!!), and the account of Thatcher's fall is marvellous; but whilst Clark was highly intelligent and an excellent writer, he was ultimately a reactionary, priveliged butterfly. He'd probably take that as a compliment.

A tremendous read and re-read...., 06 Sep 2004
Alan Clark's diary is a book that the reader can read and re-read, find favourite passages time and time again and then quite unexpectedly discover new entries that will become the new favourite passages.
The book follows Clark through his time as a Junior Minister and his successes, failures and plotting in his various posts, his endless trips abroad and wasted afternoons in pointless and tedious meetings and visits to his constituency. He longs to have higher office but probably knows that cerrtain 'indiscretions' and his often radical views will rule him out of this. Clark's views are wide-ranging and radical and strong views are expressed ranging from animals to the 'lower classes'. He also expresses admiration for unlikely opponents such as Dennis Skinner MP and cries when he is forced to shoot a heron. This is what makes him such a fascinating individual. He is not predictable and the reader does not know what to expect next.
The reader also sees Clark and his rich and varied private life - at points it seems he exists to only spot pretty girls in the crowd. What does come through, however, is his love for his wife, although, as he himself says, he often treats her badly, and his love of his trips to Zermatt and Scotland. This is a man who is privileged and has lived well.
The other editions of the diaires are also well worth reading and I defy anyone not to be moved to tears at the end of the final volume.
In conclusion many readers may find Clark unlikeable but they must ask themsleves what would the public reaction be to the publication of their own diaires?? Read this book, enjoy it and take it with a pinch of salt and hope that more individualistic politicians such as Clark will enter public life.

Political or not - you should read this book, 05 Mar 2001
A brilliant warts-and-all expose of the United Kingdom's runaway political party of the 1980's. Deeply honest, often brilliant, occasionally slipping into self-pitying apathy, Alan Clark documents a uniquely personal (and, many would say, uncomfortably realistic) view of the steamroller that was Thatcherism. Balanced by an enviable personal account of his time as one of the upper classes, this book delivers pleasure by the bucket-load on many levels. Overall, an immensley enjoyable and insightful read - even if, like myself, you do not share his views, background, politics, etc. The world is a poorer place without Alan Clark.

A classic political biography, 25 Sep 1999
Alan Clark's diaries are a compelling read. The man may be pomposity personified, hold unbelievably snobbish views on the importance to Britain of the landed gentry and his sheer vanity can take your breath away, but his personal charm oozes out of the book. He's frank, funny, articulate and (as he keeps on telling us) deeply intelligent. He's not afraid to put on paper things that remain only in most people's subconscious. There's a lovely early entry when, installed in his first ministerial office, he wonders if urinating from his seventh floor window on the pedestrians below might be enough to get him sacked. They'd hush it up he concludes - but doesn't test his theory.

Alan Clark's political views belong to a different (before his own) era, but his insights into the political process, his proximity to the hub of Government during the Thatcher years and the pure recklessness of his entries make this a great book.

Will the real Margaret Thatcher ... ?, 04 Jan 2009
Mrs Thatcher once told a TV interviewer that one of her girlhood ambitions had been to become an actress. As Campbell shows, there's no evidence to support this claim, although, paradoxically, it may be the best clue we have to understanding the "real" Margaret Thatcher.

Grocer's daughter, schoolgirl, scientist, lawyer, Tory lady, politician, tigress, milk-snatcher, iron lady, housewife-superstar or, as, many Americans thought, "quite a dame". Will the real Margaret Thatcher, please stand up?

Like his subject, Campbell has done his homework and stuck closely to his brief. No stone is left unturned, no claim unquestioned and no fact unverified. The result is a detailed and well-balanced account of Margaret Roberts' journey from the now legendary corner shop in Grantham to steps of Number 10.

The focus is very much on Mrs Thatcher herself. Current events, politicians and family are only mentioned inasmuch as they affect her personal and political development. Whilst this gives the book a strong narrative feel, it assumes some background knowledge of post war Britain. Readers who weren't around at the time or are unfamiliar with that era's politics may find that some of the minor players merge into an amorphous mass of men in grey suits (although, come to think of it ...)

A good solid five-star read.




A superb portrait of Thatcher's early years, 09 Dec 2008
Few prime ministers loom as large in the British historical imagination as does Margaret Thatcher. Idolized by her supporters and demonized by her detractors, her historical image is as much myth as it is reality, one created in part by Thatcher's own efforts to shape her public profile in politically appealing terms. One of the great achievements of John Campbell in his excellent first volume of his biography of Thatcher is his success in separating the myths from the story of her life and assessing their contribution to defining her image.

This Campbell does starting with the image from the subtitle, that of 'the grocer's daughter'. He skillfully deconstructs this legend, noting that Margaret Roberts's upbringing was neither as humble nor as idyllic as she made it seem and that her father, Alfred was not the hero she would later make him out to be. What emerges instead is a hard-working and determined young woman who pursued politics from a young age. Her career was facilitated greatly by her marriage to Denis Thatcher, who provided emotional and financial support that was indispensable to her rise in politics.

Thatcher's work ethic and drive soon won her office in Edward Heath's cabinet as Secretary of State for Education. Here she gained firsthand exposure to the Whitehall bureaucracy for the first time, an experience that left her less than impressed. Yet even after Heath's defeat in the two successive elections of 1974, his position appeared secure enough to make a challenge to his leadership of the Conservative Party seem foolhardy, and Thatcher's challenge came after more prominent Tory leaders passed on the opportunity. Yet her campaign tapped a deep vein of resentment, and she triumphed against all expectations.

Throughout this, Campbell notes the fortuitous confluence of events that aided her rise. This was best illustrated by her assumption of the Conservative Party leadership at the moment when an opening for her ideology emerged with the breakdown of the democratic socialist consensus. With unemployment swelling to levels not seen since the 1930s, Thatcher was able to exploit the inability of the Labour government to grapple with the problem. The book ends with the Conservative victory in the 1979 general election and Thatcher embarking on her transformative 11-year premiership, the subject of his next volume.

Impressively researched and absorbingly written, Campbell's book is a triumph of the biographical art. He succeeds in presenting a judicious portrait of Thatcher, one that approaches her with skepticism yet never fails to giver her her due. It is the indispensable starting point for understanding this complex and controversial figure, one that is unlikely to be bettered for its description of Thatcher's early years and their role in her political legend.

Fascinating insight, 12 Dec 2007
I read this along with her autobiographies, and of course this is far less biased! It reveals fascinating background information about her postmaster father who was also a local councillor. Campbell suggests realistic reasons behind Thatcher's motives and drive, without delving into unecessary pychobabble.

Anyone with any interest in British politics or history will enjoy this book: it is written in an easy going style, but it is extrememly thorough and thoughtful.

Good quality biography, 22 Mar 2005
A well written and informative account of Margaret Thatcher's rise to power. I found it to be an interesting and enjoyable read but not a top quality biogrpahy for a couple of reasons.

First, the organisation of the material is not very imaginative. It is basically about 50 pages between each election and the focus is on documenting events. I have no problem with this, but the book is definitely not in the calibre of Robert Caro's work on Lyndon Johnson which captures so well both the personality of the figure and the backdrop of the times. Focusing on fewer crucial periods in Thatcher's career to bring out the personality or giving more rich context would have made a more insightful biography. A missed opportunity.

Second, and this is somewhat a niggly point, Campbell overdoes the correction of the Thatcher's memoirs. I don't think anyone really expects a politician's memoirs to be completely accurate. It seems unnecessary to correct points of detail as Campbell does every 3 pages.

A good book on Thatcher, well written but not a 5-star book.

Engaging biography and history, 10 Oct 2004
This well-researched book covers the life of Margaret Thatcher from her birth and her childhood in Grantham to her election as Prime Minister in 1979. Her youth and education are dealt with in the chapters Dutiful Daughter, Serious Schoolgirl and Oxford Tory, whilst the chapter Young Conservative recounts the story of her first job, her marriage to Denis Thatcher and her first spirited election campaigns in safe Labour seats.

The birth of her children, her life as a mother and housewife and her legal studies are discussed in chapter six: Superwoman. This chapter concludes with her stunning victory in the Finchley constituency in the 1959 election. The next two chapters describe her life as a backbencher and a junior minister. Between 1964 and 1970 with the Conservatives in opposition, Thatcher held many different portfolios: junior spokeswoman on pensions, housing and economic policy and member of the shadow cabinet for power, transport and finally education.

After the Tory victory in 1970 she was education secretary for more than three years. The Conservatives were defeated in 1974 and the next year she was elected leader of the opposition, the role dealt with in the chapter of the same name. The exciting election campaign of 1979 is covered in the chapter Into Downing Street, which also deals with the beginning of her long and glorious reign as Prime Minister.

The text is filled with quotes from newspapers and people who played a role in her life. The author has gone to great lengths to be as thorough and meticulous as possible; the research cannot be faulted. Furthermore, Campbell manages to capture the mood of the times very well in his analysis of British history and politics and succeeds in making the detail interesting. For example, the election results for Margaret's Finchley constituency are provided throughout the book, for every election.

As a great admirer of Thatcher, I do not agree with his every conclusion or every single point of opinion, but his work is exhaustive and impressive. It is also quite readable although the avalanche of facts, figures and analysis do sometimes reach overload.

Of the book's 33 black and white photographs, my favourites include a picture of Margaret aged 4 with her sister, the proud mother with twins in 1953 and the future Prime Minister holding a calf in the 1979 election campaign. The book includes 41 pages of notes and references, a vast bibliography and an index.

Along with volume 2, this excellent book will surely stand the test of time as the most authoritative biography of this remarkable woman. I also recommend Thatcher's book Statecraft, a highly readable and insightful look at world politics at the beginning of the 21st century.

Following the public devouring of Alan Clark's Diaries, the "long-awaited" second helping takes the form of a posthumous prequel, covering 1972 to 1982, the formative years of this idiosyncratic political wag. And what do we discover? Blithely racist, he considers standing for the National Front, and writes that "I'm the nearest thing they're likely to get to an MP". He professes belief in National Socialism, is vehemently anti-European, and thrills to the sight of "fair-haired children" waiting outside school for their mums when he visits the Falklands in 1982. Indeed, blondes dominate his vision: his lecherous eye is everywhere, even propositioning in the Commons' public gallery, while his wife Jane stoically picks up the pieces.

After the first volume, some flatteringly spoke of Clark as a diarist to rival Samuel Pepys or Sir Henry "Chips" Channon. This time, the comparison begged is with Adrian Mole. A melancholic first half details an interminable string of losses at backgammon, neurosis over ageing, perpetual hypochondria, as well as quite affecting parental concerns. Politics remains a sideline, even when elected as an MP in 1974. It's only when the Conservatives come to power in 1979 under Margaret "The Lady" Thatcher (who reminds Clark of his mother), that the tone settles and becomes familiarly expansive, perhaps with an awareness of a future audience. Despite his hatred of his Plymouth constituency--such a pain--he revels in Commons clubbability, developing heroes such as Enoch Powell, chums such as Jonathan Aitken, and adversaries such as the "odious" Michael Heseltine, or that "butterball", Ken Clarke. The Falklands War is greeted as a personal triumph, albeit from the backbenches, but he does well to remind us how unpopular the Government was prior to it, and the lifeline it gave to Thatcher. Moving with caddish bounds from obsequious simpering to bovver-boy arrogance, Clark longed for immortality, and in a peculiar way he has found it: as a charmingly solipsistic narcissist, whose irreverence continues to tickle a British funny bone. However, as the mists of time descend, and the footnotes lengthen, perhaps future generations will wonder at such dubious charm, and our more dubious fascination with Clark's rakish progress. --David Vincent This review refers to the hardcover edition of this title.

Did he buy his own furniture?, 02 Nov 2008
If the late, great Alan Clark had never existed, someone needed to invent him. A clever, verbose, rich, well-connected Lothario whose life was peppered with famous names and places, AC could have come straight from some Mary Sue novelette. You can tell I admire him, but he clearly has his faults. At times reading these diaries, you can see the real snob in him, looking down upon the lower echelons (of which I am one) with a waspish disdain. Yet as you progress through this compelling book, I believe he's not all black and white. He hates yobbos - who doesn't? He ran a large estate yet disliked bloodsports. He condemns the throwing on the scrapheap of working class men from numerous depleted industries. He's cynical and at times a whinger. But he's also blunt and very entertaining. All those parliamentarian's are brought to earth with a bump, at least in the reader's esteem, as Mr Clark calls them names such as "fat creep" and much worse. This book serves as an interesting fly-on-wall account of the Thatcher years, and more importantly, of the Machiavellian shufflings that led to her downfall.

AC passed away in 1999 but I recall one of his last appearances on Question Time. He was so sharp, quick witted and sarcastic that the audience were eating out of his hand - very few politicans of any ideology can claim to do that.

I'm into politics, so to me this book is worth 5 stars. If you're not, you may only rate it at a "measly" 4.

All the fascination of a car wreck, 27 Feb 2005
This, and the other diaries, make excellent, though disturbing, reading. There's no political thought as such here, rather the thoughts of a man who was a member of, and a junior minister in, the Conservative government which led the country for 18 years. A self-styled member of the "upper classes", we get his thoughts on the "lower classes" but not on any real issues. At one point he comments that he expected to become Prime Minister, but we don't find out why. The nearest to a political credo seems to be "the upper classes are better than the lower classes and they should run the country". Welcome to the 18th Century; presumably Thatcher's Victorian values were a bit modern for him. There are some excellent moments, including a footnote on a bizarre theory promoted by Tory toffs that Thatcher wasn't the daughter of Grocer Roberts of Grantham but was fathered by some upper-crust dilletante (the reason given for her having aristocratic "blood" is that she has small feet!!), and the account of Thatcher's fall is marvellous; but whilst Clark was highly intelligent and an excellent writer, he was ultimately a reactionary, priveliged butterfly. He'd probably take that as a compliment.

A tremendous read and re-read...., 06 Sep 2004
Alan Clark's diary is a book that the reader can read and re-read, find favourite passages time and time again and then quite unexpectedly discover new entries that will become the new favourite passages.
The book follows Clark through his time as a Junior Minister and his successes, failures and plotting in his various posts, his endless trips abroad and wasted afternoons in pointless and tedious meetings and visits to his constituency. He longs to have higher office but probably knows that cerrtain 'indiscretions' and his often radical views will rule him out of this. Clark's views are wide-ranging and radical and strong views are expressed ranging from animals to the 'lower classes'. He also expresses admiration for unlikely opponents such as Dennis Skinner MP and cries when he is forced to shoot a heron. This is what makes him such a fascinating individual. He is not predictable and the reader does not know what to expect next.
The reader also sees Clark and his rich and varied private life - at points it seems he exists to only spot pretty girls in the crowd. What does come through, however, is his love for his wife, although, as he himself says, he often treats her badly, and his love of his trips to Zermatt and Scotland. This is a man who is privileged and has lived well.
The other editions of the diaires are also well worth reading and I defy anyone not to be moved to tears at the end of the final volume.
In conclusion many readers may find Clark unlikeable but they must ask themsleves what would the public reaction be to the publication of their own diaires?? Read this book, enjoy it and take it with a pinch of salt and hope that more individualistic politicians such as Clark will enter public life.

Political or not - you should read this book, 05 Mar 2001
A brilliant warts-and-all expose of the United Kingdom's runaway political party of the 1980's. Deeply honest, often brilliant, occasionally slipping into self-pitying apathy, Alan Clark documents a uniquely personal (and, many would say, uncomfortably realistic) view of the steamroller that was Thatcherism. Balanced by an enviable personal account of his time as one of the upper classes, this book delivers pleasure by the bucket-load on many levels. Overall, an immensley enjoyable and insightful read - even if, like myself, you do not share his views, background, politics, etc. The world is a poorer place without Alan Clark.

A classic political biography, 25 Sep 1999
Alan Clark's diaries are a compelling read. The man may be pomposity personified, hold unbelievably snobbish views on the importance to Britain of the landed gentry and his sheer vanity can take your breath away, but his personal charm oozes out of the book. He's frank, funny, articulate and (as he keeps on telling us) deeply intelligent. He's not afraid to put on paper things that remain only in most people's subconscious. There's a lovely early entry when, installed in his first ministerial office, he wonders if urinating from his seventh floor window on the pedestrians below might be enough to get him sacked. They'd hush it up he concludes - but doesn't test his theory.

Alan Clark's political views belong to a different (before his own) era, but his insights into the political process, his proximity to the hub of Government during the Thatcher years and the pure recklessness of his entries make this a great book.

Will the real Margaret Thatcher ... ?, 04 Jan 2009
Mrs Thatcher once told a TV interviewer that one of her girlhood ambitions had been to become an actress. As Campbell shows, there's no evidence to support this claim, although, paradoxically, it may be the best clue we have to understanding the "real" Margaret Thatcher.

Grocer's daughter, schoolgirl, scientist, lawyer, Tory lady, politician, tigress, milk-snatcher, iron lady, housewife-superstar or, as, many Americans thought, "quite a dame". Will the real Margaret Thatcher, please stand up?

Like his subject, Campbell has done his homework and stuck closely to his brief. No stone is left unturned, no claim unquestioned and no fact unverified. The result is a detailed and well-balanced account of Margaret Roberts' journey from the now legendary corner shop in Grantham to steps of Number 10.

The focus is very much on Mrs Thatcher herself. Current events, politicians and family are only mentioned inasmuch as they affect her personal and political development. Whilst this gives the book a strong narrative feel, it assumes some background knowledge of post war Britain. Readers who weren't around at the time or are unfamiliar with that era's politics may find that some of the minor players merge into an amorphous mass of men in grey suits (although, come to think of it ...)

A good solid five-star read.




A superb portrait of Thatcher's early years, 09 Dec 2008
Few prime ministers loom as large in the British historical imagination as does Margaret Thatcher. Idolized by her supporters and demonized by her detractors, her historical image is as much myth as it is reality, one created in part by Thatcher's own efforts to shape her public profile in politically appealing terms. One of the great achievements of John Campbell in his excellent first volume of his biography of Thatcher is his success in separating the myths from the story of her life and assessing their contribution to defining her image.

This Campbell does starting with the image from the subtitle, that of 'the grocer's daughter'. He skillfully deconstructs this legend, noting that Margaret Roberts's upbringing was neither as humble nor as idyllic as she made it seem and that her father, Alfred was not the hero she would later make him out to be. What emerges instead is a hard-working and determined young woman who pursued politics from a young age. Her career was facilitated greatly by her marriage to Denis Thatcher, who provided emotional and financial support that was indispensable to her rise in politics.

Thatcher's work ethic and drive soon won her office in Edward Heath's cabinet as Secretary of State for Education. Here she gained firsthand exposure to the Whitehall bureaucracy for the first time, an experience that left her less than impressed. Yet even after Heath's defeat in the two successive elections of 1974, his position appeared secure enough to make a challenge to his leadership of the Conservative Party seem foolhardy, and Thatcher's challenge came after more prominent Tory leaders passed on the opportunity. Yet her campaign tapped a deep vein of resentment, and she triumphed against all expectations.

Throughout this, Campbell notes the fortuitous confluence of events that aided her rise. This was best illustrated by her assumption of the Conservative Party leadership at the moment when an opening for her ideology emerged with the breakdown of the democratic socialist consensus. With unemployment swelling to levels not seen since the 1930s, Thatcher was able to exploit the inability of the Labour government to grapple with the problem. The book ends with the Conservative victory in the 1979 general election and Thatcher embarking on her transformative 11-year premiership, the subject of his next volume.

Impressively researched and absorbingly written, Campbell's book is a triumph of the biographical art. He succeeds in presenting a judicious portrait of Thatcher, one that approaches her with skepticism yet never fails to giver her her due. It is the indispensable starting point for understanding this complex and controversial figure, one that is unlikely to be bettered for its description of Thatcher's early years and their role in her political legend.

Fascinating insight, 12 Dec 2007
I read this along with her autobiographies, and of course this is far less biased! It reveals fascinating background information about her postmaster father who was also a local councillor. Campbell suggests realistic reasons behind Thatcher's motives and drive, without delving into unecessary pychobabble.

Anyone with any interest in British politics or history will enjoy this book: it is written in an easy going style, but it is extrememly thorough and thoughtful.

Good quality biography, 22 Mar 2005
A well written and informative account of Margaret Thatcher's rise to power. I found it to be an interesting and enjoyable read but not a top quality biogrpahy for a couple of reasons.

First, the organisation of the material is not very imaginative. It is basically about 50 pages between each election and the focus is on documenting events. I have no problem with this, but the book is definitely not in the calibre of Robert Caro's work on Lyndon Johnson which captures so well both the personality of the figure and the backdrop of the times. Focusing on fewer crucial periods in Thatcher's career to bring out the personality or giving more rich context would have made a more insightful biography. A missed opportunity.

Second, and this is somewhat a niggly point, Campbell overdoes the correction of the Thatcher's memoirs. I don't think anyone really expects a politician's memoirs to be completely accurate. It seems unnecessary to correct points of detail as Campbell does every 3 pages.

A good book on Thatcher, well written but not a 5-star book.

Engaging biography and history, 10 Oct 2004
This well-researched book covers the life of Margaret Thatcher from her birth and her childhood in Grantham to her election as Prime Minister in 1979. Her youth and education are dealt with in the chapters Dutiful Daughter, Serious Schoolgirl and Oxford Tory, whilst the chapter Young Conservative recounts the story of her first job, her marriage to Denis Thatcher and her first spirited election campaigns in safe Labour seats.

The birth of her children, her life as a mother and housewife and her legal studies are discussed in chapter six: Superwoman. This chapter concludes with her stunning victory in the Finchley constituency in the 1959 election. The next two chapters describe her life as a backbencher and a junior minister. Between 1964 and 1970 with the Conservatives in opposition, Thatcher held many different portfolios: junior spokeswoman on pensions, housing and economic policy and member of the shadow cabinet for power, transport and finally education.

After the Tory victory in 1970 she was education secretary for more than three years. The Conservatives were defeated in 1974 and the next year she was elected leader of the opposition, the role dealt with in the chapter of the same name. The exciting election campaign of 1979 is covered in the chapter Into Downing Street, which also deals with the beginning of her long and glorious reign as Prime Minister.

The text is filled with quotes from newspapers and people who played a role in her life. The author has gone to great lengths to be as thorough and meticulous as possible; the research cannot be faulted. Furthermore, Campbell manages to capture the mood of the times very well in his analysis of British history and politics and succeeds in making the detail interesting. For example, the election results for Margaret's Finchley constituency are provided throughout the book, for every election.

As a great admirer of Thatcher, I do not agree with his every conclusion or every single point of opinion, but his work is exhaustive and impressive. It is also quite readable although the avalanche of facts, figures and analysis do sometimes reach overload.

Of the book's 33 black and white photographs, my favourites include a picture of Margaret aged 4 with her sister, the proud mother with twins in 1953 and the future Prime Minister holding a calf in the 1979 election campaign. The book includes 41 pages of notes and references, a vast bibliography and an index.

Along with volume 2, this excellent book will surely stand the test of time as the most authoritative biography of this remarkable woman. I also recommend Thatcher's book Statecraft, a highly readable and insightful look at world politics at the beginning of the 21st century.

lovely old sausage, 05 Nov 2008
I loathed the 80's tories and was on the sauce throughout their reign, and had I met him in real life, would probanbly have vomited..however his diary is interestinhg, I would have liked just a little bit more so he isn't in the same league as pepy's, but to see him relishing power is a pleasure to read- one for the library, I wouldn't bother buying it.h

Compelling snapshot of politics and mid-life angst., 10 Oct 2008
I began my journey with Alan Clark with 'In Power', then watched the captivating and hugely entertaining TV series with John Hurt. I thought the TV adaptation a little darker than the diaries in actual fact. But even with the printed page there is a distinct style change when one reads 'Into Politics'. The sentence structure is more stoccato, with Clark's own upper class lexis and esoterical vocabulary taking us on a vivid journey into the world of the fortysomething politician. Whatever reservations one may have about his sympathies for far right groups, or his broad brush stereotyping of the working classes (and I took one or two deep gulps for fortification in places), there is something hugely likeable about him. A patriotic man moving through times where 'Authority' and 'Sovereignty' were being significantly redefined -and indeed continue to be! But ultimately this book is worth purchasing because Clark's diaries are incredibly 'human'. His candour about the things we all care about over the age of 35 : fatigue, ageing, failing, dying, reveal a much more complex and 'real' character than the 'Utter rogue' tory club cliche we got in the tabloids. A truly entertaining and fascinating read.

Bongo-Bongo or Never-Never?!, 15 Apr 2008
I tend to like the bits of Alan Clark some others do not: his love for animals and the living world; his support for Hitler and the German Reich (though inconsistent: he also thought that the UK should have rearmed more in the 1930's and admired the warmongering Churchill); his general dislike of Jewry (although he played backgammon with some...). However, I tend to dislike him as a person (though I never met him...maybe just as well!). For me, Clark comes out pretty much as he must have been in these very honest Diaries.

Strangely, for someone born to wealth (his great-great-grandfather founded the family fortune, in textile mills in Scotland) and culture (his father was ennobled as Lord Clark of Civilization!) and who had an expensive education at Eton and Oxford, Clark is at heart a vulgarian, somehow, despite all that and his own innate intelligence and (up to a point) culture. Against all the odds, there is something somehow ineradicably "nouveau" and also bourgeois about him. When his affairs came to public light, his wife (herself of the middle classes) sniffed about that happening "if one dallies with women from below stairs"! And Clark once looked down his nose at those "who have had to buy their furniture" rather than inheriting it, yet his own castle, in Kent, was only bought by his father in 1951!

Clark for me is the kind of chap who turns up flashing his wallet, at a country pub, in a well-polished classic sports car, probably wearing a cravat and a flat tweed shooting or driving cap. Mega ugh!

The Diaries are at their best when he bitches at the general state of affairs, which he does try to ameliorate in Parliament: supported a Labour amendment to require dreadful pop/rock "concerts" to have a licence at least; tried to help animals as much as possible etc. He realizes that the UK will eventually fall apart thanks to mass immigration and multiculturalism but (like the more educated and intent Enoch Powell) is obsessed with the Conservative Party and the Westminster monkeyhouse and so is more or less sidelined politically. He toys with the idea of becoming a National Front candidate or an independent but does nothing about it. I wonder what would have happened IF he and Powell together had either joined the NF or, better, started their own British nationalist-type party? They might just have succeeded, in a 1970's milieu in which the NF, with poor candidates and little money was getting an average between 5% and 10% (sometimes more) of the popular vote, though (thanks to the system) no Westminster seats (and then got iced-out by the raising 10x of the usually lost electoral deposits...long live "freedom"!).

Clark loved England --one of his real plus points, for me-- and was not afraid to show his emotion in public as well as in the Diaries. Unfortunately, not least for his own ambitions, he could never make up his mind: he has large overdrafts yet owns something like 7 major properties, some of which have other houses on them, but which he thinks he cannot sell. He also has masses of valuable art: his wife even finds a Miro sketch in a drawer of old postcards. Yet he is always worrying about money. Never consistent, he still realizes from time to time just how very privileged he is in life.

As for Mrs Thatcher, he calls her The Lady (not the more critical Tina, There Is No Alternative) and never mentions her own less privileged background (daughter of a Lincolnshire grocer). Why? I think the answer is that she had Power, which he worships (as on seeing the warplanes at Ascension Island).

Clark was a well regarded historian (The Donkeys; Barbarossa), though not of the same stature as David Irving (now "banned" in our supposedly free country) or Corelli Barnett, both of whom are mentioned here, as is Hitler (once). To my way of thinking, Clark overstresses the Nietzschean roots of part of the National Socialist ideology, but, also to my way of thinking, was correct in believing that the defeat of the Reich was a disaster for the world and especially for the Anglo-Saxon peoples, as he states quite explicitly.

The very best of Clark's mentality comes out in his love for animals, birds and (although concealed from them in a very British or as Clark would say "upper class" way), his two sons. Like so many, he thought it "important" to be an M.P. and try to be a minister etc (he did briefly make it, though after these Diaries end in 1982), when he could have had a happier life either ignoring ordinary politics or going outside the box of the Lib Lab Con-men. Having said all that, Clark muses, in the mid-1970's "Am I a Renaissance prince, a philosopher king, or an ageing dud?". I think the answer is pretty obvious! It is a pity that he never really focussed.


Alan Clark - Acerbic, Hypochondriac, Lecherous, Lazy, Shocking, Nationalist, Odious, Philanderer BUT Extremely Likeable!, 28 Apr 2007
Alan has been described as the diarist of his century. I disagree with that opinion. Surely, Alan Clark is the diarist of his millennia! I've read Boswell, Pepys, Dorothy Wordsworth, et al, and as outstanding as these were, none can hold a candle to Clark's ability to capture the moment. As for the man himself, you could not invent him if you tried!

I am often nonpluss to find copies of Alan's diaries so readily available for purchase online. I would have thought by now that the secret was out about Alan's unique and irrepeatable tome and all copies of his diaries present and future are sold out!

Perhaps at last, here is the "Great White Hope" that boxing never quite delivered. Acerbic, hurtful, hypochondriac, lecherous, lazy, shocking, nationalist, odious, philanderer, intolerable BUT equally extremely lovable, intellectual, likeable, original, fresh, interesting, affable, utterly human, devastatingly infectious and a national treasure worthy of a statue in Soho! If I have one regret, it is that Alan Clark did not live long enough to help Boris Johnson pen his diaries!

At once, Alan is utterly repellent and utterly butterly! He loved, adored and often worried about his boys James and Andrew and he was so utterly loving and devoted to Jane - but only God knows how he managed that! I secretly quite like him, adore him even and his writing I love - despite his impossible ways. I am sure my poor mother (RIP) would regret ever bringing me up for saying so. And having just admitted that, never again will I be embarrassed for fancying Diana Rigg in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"!.

Reading his diary and knowing he was real does not detract one bit that it would be impossible to invent Alan - he's that unbelievable! Once asked by John Pilger, the Australian journalist - "I read that you were a vegetarian and you are seriously concerned about the way animals are killed. Doesn't that concern extend to the way humans, albeit foreigners are killed?" Answered Clark with characteristic frankness, "Curiously not, no." On the troubles in Northern Ireland, Clark's view was as frank as they were odious: "I concluded that the only solution is to arm the Orangemen - to the teeth - and get out." And on Christmas carol service: "I only can properly enjoy carol services if I am having an illicit affair with someone in the congregation. Why is this? Perhaps because they are essentially pagan, not Christian, celebrations." And of course, a professional cad, to date, he is the only Member of Parliament to have been accused of being drunk at the despatch box! And Alan Clark's Nazi and racist tendencies are well documented in his diaries. He referred to the courtrie of Jewish ministers in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet as "Jew Boys" not to mention Alan Clark's suggestion that immigrants ought to be sent back to "Bongo-Bongo Land"!

As one who came from Bongo-Bongo Land to "This England!"; I found Alan and his diaries irresistible, refreshing and instantly likeable, but odiously so! If that sounds ambivalent, that is because that was the nature of the man himself. However, my ambivalence does not extend to his writing because I cannot heap enough praise on Alan Clark's Diaries (all three volumes). They are without a doubt, the work of a master diarist at the top of his game who is by far the Greatest English diarist of all time!

Yemmi Agbebi - Manchester, UK


Diaries:into Politics, 03 Jun 2003
Strangely enough, I started my Clark diary experience with this one and have since read "In power" which, I think, most people have read first. I am glad I started with this one, as I have now been able to read, in chronological order, the history of Alan Clark. Although I am a political fanatic, it is the non-political aspects which I love about this book. Most political people do not have much of a "hinterland" outside politics but I find Clark's diversions into other fields very interesting: His love of cars, his great knowledge of running large houses, his love of wine, his love of travel (beautiful heartfelt descriptions of many parts of the country), furniture, books, history etc etc. It is also his wicked sense of humour which keeps me reading him. I was most amused by his description of some poor vice-chairman of a Tory constituency party as "literally spastic". I am sure it was not true and I feel sorry for the object of his ire, but between me and the pages I found the exasperation of Clark behind that remark very funny. There is an interesting sub text throughout the book. Clark is obsessed with his looks and the passage of time. He also laments time wasted in meetings, on the train to Plymouth etc and identifies better things he could be doing (like enjoying his castle and its grounds). On balance one is left with the question: is politics really worth turning one's back on all the good things in life?

Love her or hate her, there is no escaping the impact that Margaret Thatcher has made upon post-war British Politics. The 1980s are indelibly marked as the Thatcher years, and her rise from Grantham grocer's daughter to Finchley MP in 1959, Leader of the Conservative Party by 1975, and Prime Minister by 1979 was as tenacious as it was controversial. Since being ousted from power, biographers have been busy reassessing her legacy. By far the most distinguished account to date is John Campbell's Margaret Thatcher. Volume One: The Grocer's Daughter. Campbell's credentials for the job are impeccable, having already written the acclaimed biography of Thatcher's great rival, Edward Heath, winner of the 1994 NCR Book Award. As he explains from the outset, this is not an authorised biography, but Thatcher's office made no attempt to prevent the reconstruction of Thatcher's life from her birth in Grantham to her entry into Downing Street. This is a blessing, as Campbell's immensely readable and even-handed book challenges the idealised myth of Thatcher's early life and indoctrination into the "Victorian values" of her Methodist father Alderman Roberts. According to Campbell, Thatcher reinvented herself as a wealthy Home Counties lady, through her difficult years at Oxford, marriage to Denis, and sexist responses from her party throughout her early years in Opposition. However, as her status as a "conviction politician" grew, and with the General Election of 1979 looming, she radically changed her image: "In place of the Home Counties Tory lady in a stripy hat, married to a rich husband, whose children had attended the most expensive private schools, she forced the media to redefine her as a battling meritocrat who had raised herself by hard work from a humble provincial background." Campbell's story is always compelling, his research meticulous, and his sweep of the political skulduggery of the 60s and 70s masterful. Margaret Thatcher is an absorbing story of the creation of a modern political myth. --Jerry Brotton

Did he buy his own furniture?, 02 Nov 2008
If the late, great Alan Clark had never existed, someone needed to invent him. A clever, verbose, rich, well-connected Lothario whose life was peppered with famous names and places, AC could have come straight from some Mary Sue novelette. You can tell I admire him, but he clearly has his faults. At times reading these diaries, you can see the real snob in him, looking down upon the lower echelons (of which I am one) with a waspish disdain. Yet as you progress through this compelling book, I believe he's not all black and white. He hates yobbos - who doesn't? He ran a large estate yet disliked bloodsports. He condemns the throwing on the scrapheap of working class men from numerous depleted industries. He's cynical and at times a whinger. But he's also blunt and very entertaining. All those parliamentarian's are brought to earth with a bump, at least in the reader's esteem, as Mr Clark calls them names such as "fat creep" and much worse. This book serves as an interesting fly-on-wall account of the Thatcher years, and more importantly, of the Machiavellian shufflings that led to her downfall.

AC passed away in 1999 but I recall one of his last appearances on Question Time. He was so sharp, quick witted and sarcastic that the audience were eating out of his hand - very few politicans of any ideology can claim to do that.

I'm into politics, so to me this book is worth 5 stars. If you're not, you may only rate it at a "measly" 4.

All the fascination of a car wreck, 27 Feb 2005
This, and the other diaries, make excellent, though disturbing, reading. There's no political thought as such here, rather the thoughts of a man who was a member of, and a junior minister in, the Conservative government which led the country for 18 years. A self-styled member of the "upper classes", we get his thoughts on the "lower classes" but not on any real issues. At one point he comments that he expected to become Prime Minister, but we don't find out why. The nearest to a political credo seems to be "the upper classes are better than the lower classes and they should run the country". Welcome to the 18th Century; presumably Thatcher's Victorian values were a bit modern for him. There are some excellent moments, including a footnote on a bizarre theory promoted by Tory toffs that Thatcher wasn't the daughter of Grocer Roberts of Grantham but was fathered by some upper-crust dilletante (the reason given for her having aristocratic "blood" is that she has small feet!!), and the account of Thatcher's fall is marvellous; but whilst Clark was highly intelligent and an excellent writer, he was ultimately a reactionary, priveliged butterfly. He'd probably take that as a compliment.

A tremendous read and re-read...., 06 Sep 2004
Alan Clark's diary is a book that the reader can read and re-read, find favourite passages time and time again and then quite unexpectedly discover new entries that will become the new favourite passages.
The book follows Clark through his time as a Junior Minister and his successes, failures and plotting in his various posts, his endless trips abroad and wasted afternoons in pointless and tedious meetings and visits to his constituency. He longs to have higher office but probably knows that cerrtain 'indiscretions' and his often radical views will rule him out of this. Clark's views are wide-ranging and radical and strong views are expressed ranging from animals to the 'lower classes'. He also expresses admiration for unlikely opponents such as Dennis Skinner MP and cries when he is forced to shoot a heron. This is what makes him such a fascinating individual. He is not predictable and the reader does not know what to expect next.
The reader also sees Clark and his rich and varied private life - at points it seems he exists to only spot pretty girls in the crowd. What does come through, however, is his love for his wife, although, as he himself says, he often treats her badly, and his love of his trips to Zermatt and Scotland. This is a man who is privileged and has lived well.
The other editions of the diaires are also well worth reading and I defy anyone not to be moved to tears at the end of the final volume.
In conclusion many readers may find Clark unlikeable but they must ask themsleves what would the public reaction be to the publication of their own diaires?? Read this book, enjoy it and take it with a pinch of salt and hope that more individualistic politicians such as Clark will enter public life.

Political or not - you should read this book, 05 Mar 2001
A brilliant warts-and-all expose of the United Kingdom's runaway political party of the 1980's. Deeply honest, often brilliant, occasionally slipping into self-pitying apathy, Alan Clark documents a uniquely personal (and, many would say, uncomfortably realistic) view of the steamroller that was Thatcherism. Balanced by an enviable personal account of his time as one of the upper classes, this book delivers pleasure by the bucket-load on many levels. Overall, an immensley enjoyable and insightful read - even if, like myself, you do not share his views, background, politics, etc. The world is a poorer place without Alan Clark.

A classic political biography, 25 Sep 1999
Alan Clark's diaries are a compelling read. The man may be pomposity personified, hold unbelievably snobbish views on the importance to Britain of the landed gentry and his sheer vanity can take your breath away, but his personal charm oozes out of the book. He's frank, funny, articulate and (as he keeps on telling us) deeply intelligent. He's not afraid to put on paper things that remain only in most people's subconscious. There's a lovely early entry when, installed in his first ministerial office, he wonders if urinating from his seventh floor window on the pedestrians below might be enough to get him sacked. They'd hush it up he concludes - but doesn't test his theory.

Alan Clark's political views belong to a different (before his own) era, but his insights into the political process, his proximity to the hub of Government during the Thatcher years and the pure recklessness of his entries make this a great book.

Will the real Margaret Thatcher ... ?, 04 Jan 2009
Mrs Thatcher once told a TV interviewer that one of her girlhood ambitions had been to become an actress. As Campbell shows, there's no evidence to support this claim, although, paradoxically, it may be the best clue we have to understanding the "real" Margaret Thatcher.

Grocer's daughter, schoolgirl, scientist, lawyer, Tory lady, politician, tigress, milk-snatcher, iron lady, housewife-superstar or, as, many Americans thought, "quite a dame". Will the real Margaret Thatcher, please stand up?

Like his subject, Campbell has done his homework and stuck closely to his brief. No stone is left unturned, no claim unquestioned and no fact unverified. The result is a detailed and well-balanced account of Margaret Roberts' journey from the now legendary corner shop in Grantham to steps of Number 10.

The focus is very much on Mrs Thatcher herself. Current events, politicians and family are only mentioned inasmuch as they affect her personal and political development. Whilst this gives the book a strong narrative feel, it assumes some background knowledge of post war Britain. Readers who weren't around at the time or are unfamiliar with that era's politics may find that some of the minor players merge into an amorphous mass of men in grey suits (although, come to think of it ...)

A good solid five-star read.




A superb portrait of Thatcher's early years, 09 Dec 2008
Few prime ministers loom as large in the British historical imagination as does Margaret Thatcher. Idolized by her supporters and demonized by her detractors, her historical image is as much myth as it is reality, one created in part by Thatcher's own efforts to shape her public profile in politically appealing terms. One of the great achievements of John Campbell in his excellent first volume of his biography of Thatcher is his success in separating the myths from the story of her life and assessing their contribution to defining her image.

This Campbell does starting with the image from the subtitle, that of 'the grocer's daughter'. He skillfully deconstructs this legend, noting that Margaret Roberts's upbringing was neither as humble nor as idyllic as she made it seem and that her father, Alfred was not the hero she would later make him out to be. What emerges instead is a hard-working and determined young woman who pursued politics from a young age. Her career was facilitated greatly by her marriage to Denis Thatcher, who provided emotional and financial support that was indispensable to her rise in politics.

Thatcher's work ethic and drive soon won her office in Edward Heath's cabinet as Secretary of State for Education. Here she gained firsthand exposure to the Whitehall bureaucracy for the first time, an experience that left her less than impressed. Yet even after Heath's defeat in the two successive elections of 1974, his position appeared secure enough to make a challenge to his leadership of the Conservative Party seem foolhardy, and Thatcher's challenge came after more prominent Tory leaders passed on the opportunity. Yet her campaign tapped a deep vein of resentment, and she triumphed against all expectations.

Throughout this, Campbell notes the fortuitous confluence of events that aided her rise. This was best illustrated by her assumption of the Conservative Party leadership at the moment when an opening for her ideology emerged with the breakdown of the democratic socialist consensus. With unemployment swelling to levels not seen since the 1930s, Thatcher was able to exploit the inability of the Labour government to grapple with the problem. The book ends with the Conservative victory in the 1979 general election and Thatcher embarking on her transformative 11-year premiership, the subject of his next volume.

Impressively researched and absorbingly written, Campbell's book is a triumph of the biographical art. He succeeds in presenting a judicious portrait of Thatcher, one that approaches her with skepticism yet never fails to giver her her due. It is the indispensable starting point for understanding this complex and controversial figure, one that is unlikely to be bettered for its description of Thatcher's early years and their role in her political legend.

Fascinating insight, 12 Dec 2007
I read this along with her autobiographies, and of course this is far less biased! It reveals fascinating background information about her postmaster father who was also a local councillor. Campbell suggests realistic reasons behind Thatcher's motives and drive, without delving into unecessary pychobabble.

Anyone with any interest in British politics or history will enjoy this book: it is written in an easy going style, but it is extrememly thorough and thoughtful.

Good quality biography, 22 Mar 2005
A well written and informative account of Margaret Thatcher's rise to power. I found it to be an interesting and enjoyable read but not a top quality biogrpahy for a couple of reasons.

First, the organisation of the material is not very imaginative. It is basically about 50 pages between each election and the focus is on documenting events. I have no problem with this, but the book is definitely not in the calibre of Robert Caro's work on Lyndon Johnson which captures so well both the personality of the figure and the backdrop of the times. Focusing on fewer crucial periods in Thatcher's career to bring out the personality or giving more rich context would have made a more insightful biography. A missed opportunity.

Second, and this is somewhat a niggly point, Campbell overdoes the correction of the Thatcher's memoirs. I don't think anyone really expects a politician's memoirs to be completely accurate. It seems unnecessary to correct points of detail as Campbell does every 3 pages.

A good book on Thatcher, well written but not a 5-star book.

Engaging biography and history, 10 Oct 2004
This well-researched book covers the life of Margaret Thatcher from her birth and her childhood in Grantham to her election as Prime Minister in 1979. Her youth and education are dealt with in the chapters Dutiful Daughter, Serious Schoolgirl and Oxford Tory, whilst the chapter Young Conservative recounts the story of her first job, her marriage to Denis Thatcher and her first spirited election campaigns in safe Labour seats.

The birth of her children, her life as a mother and housewife and her legal studies are discussed in chapter six: Superwoman. This chapter concludes with her stunning victory in the Finchley constituency in the 1959 election. The next two chapters describe her life as a backbencher and a junior minister. Between 1964 and 1970 with the Conservatives in opposition, Thatcher held many different portfolios: junior spokeswoman on pensions, housing and economic policy and member of the shadow cabinet for power, transport and finally education.

After the Tory victory in 1970 she was education secretary for more than three years. The Conservatives were defeated in 1974 and the next year she was elected leader of the opposition, the role dealt with in the chapter of the same name. The exciting election campaign of 1979 is covered in the chapter Into Downing Street, which also deals with the beginning of her long and glorious reign as Prime Minister.

The text is filled with quotes from newspapers and people who played a role in her life. The author has gone to great lengths to be as thorough and meticulous as possible; the research cannot be faulted. Furthermore, Campbell manages to capture the mood of the times very well in his analysis of British history and politics and succeeds in making the detail interesting. For example, the election results for Margaret's Finchley constituency are provided throughout the book, for every election.

As a great admirer of Thatcher, I do not agree with his every conclusion or every single point of opinion, but his work is exhaustive and impressive. It is also quite readable although the avalanche of facts, figures and analysis do sometimes reach overload.

Of the book's 33 black and white photographs, my favourites include a picture of Margaret aged 4 with her sister, the proud mother with twins in 1953 and the future Prime Minister holding a calf in the 1979 election campaign. The book includes 41 pages of notes and references, a vast bibliography and an index.

Along with volume 2, this excellent book will surely stand the test of time as the most authoritative biography of this remarkable woman. I also recommend Thatcher's book Statecraft, a highly readable and insightful look at world politics at the beginning of the 21st century.

lovely old sausage, 05 Nov 2008
I loathed the 80's tories and was on the sauce throughout their reign, and had I met him in real life, would probanbly have vomited..however his diary is interestinhg, I would have liked just a little bit more so he isn't in the same league as pepy's, but to see him relishing power is a pleasure to read- one for the library, I wouldn't bother buying it.h

Compelling snapshot of politics and mid-life angst., 10 Oct 2008
I began my journey with Alan Clark with 'In Power', then watched the captivating and hugely entertaining TV series with John Hurt. I thought the TV adaptation a little darker than the diaries in actual fact. But even with the printed page there is a distinct style change when one reads 'Into Politics'. The sentence structure is more stoccato, with Clark's own upper class lexis and esoterical vocabulary taking us on a vivid journey into the world of the fortysomething politician. Whatever reservations one may have about his sympathies for far right groups, or his broad brush stereotyping of the working classes (and I took one or two deep gulps for fortification in places), there is something hugely likeable about him. A patriotic man moving through times where 'Authority' and 'Sovereignty' were being significantly redefined -and indeed continue to be! But ultimately this book is worth purchasing because Clark's diaries are incredibly 'human'. His candour about the things we all care about over the age of 35 : fatigue, ageing, failing, dying, reveal a much more complex and 'real' character than the 'Utter rogue' tory club cliche we got in the tabloids. A truly entertaining and fascinating read.

Bongo-Bongo or Never-Never?!, 15 Apr 2008
I tend to like the bits of Alan Clark some others do not: his love for animals and the living world; his support for Hitler and the German Reich (though inconsistent: he also thought that the UK should have rearmed more in the 1930's and admired the warmongering Churchill); his general dislike of Jewry (although he played backgammon with some...). However, I tend to dislike him as a person (though I never met him...maybe just as well!). For me, Clark comes out pretty much as he must have been in these very honest Diaries.

Strangely, for someone born to wealth (his great-great-grandfather founded the family fortune, in textile mills in Scotland) and culture (his father was ennobled as Lord Clark of Civilization!) and who had an expensive education at Eton and Oxford, Clark is at heart a vulgarian, somehow, despite all that and his own innate intelligence and (up to a point) culture. Against all the odds, there is something somehow ineradicably "nouveau" and also bourgeois about him. When his affairs came to public light, his wife (herself of the middle classes) sniffed about that happening "if one dallies with women from below stairs"! And Clark once looked down his nose at those "who have had to buy their furniture" rather than inheriting it, yet his own castle, in Kent, was only bought by his father in 1951!

Clark for me is the kind of chap who turns up flashing his wallet, at a country pub, in a well-polished classic sports car, probably wearing a cravat and a flat tweed shooting or driving cap. Mega ugh!

The Diaries are at their best when he bitches at the general state of affairs, which he does try to ameliorate in Parliament: supported a Labour amendment to require dreadful pop/rock "concerts" to have a licence at least; tried to help animals as much as possible etc. He realizes that the UK will eventually fall apart thanks to mass immigration and multiculturalism but (like the more educated and intent Enoch Powell) is obsessed with the Conservative Party and the Westminster monkeyhouse and so is more or less sidelined politically. He toys with the idea of becoming a National Front candidate or an independent but does nothing about it. I wonder what would have happened IF he and Powell together had either joined the NF or, better, started their own British nationalist-type party? They might just have succeeded, in a 1970's milieu in which the NF, with poor candidates and little money was getting an average between 5% and 10% (sometimes more) of the popular vote, though (thanks to the system) no Westminster seats (and then got iced-out by the raising 10x of the usually lost electoral deposits...long live "freedom"!).

Clark loved England --one of his real plus points, for me-- and was not afraid to show his emotion in public as well as in the Diaries. Unfortunately, not least for his own ambitions, he could never make up his mind: he has large overdrafts yet owns something like 7 major properties, some of which have other houses on them, but which he thinks he cannot sell. He also has masses of valuable art: his wife even finds a Miro sketch in a drawer of old postcards. Yet he is always worrying about money. Never consistent, he still realizes from time to time just how very privileged he is in life.

As for Mrs Thatcher, he calls her The Lady (not the more critical Tina, There Is No Alternative) and never mentions her own less privileged background (daughter of a Lincolnshire grocer). Why? I think the answer is that she had Power, which he worships (as on seeing the warplanes at Ascension Island).

Clark was a well regarded historian (The Donkeys; Barbarossa), though not of the same stature as David Irving (now "banned" in our supposedly free country) or Corelli Barnett, both of whom are mentioned here, as is Hitler (once). To my way of thinking, Clark overstresses the Nietzschean roots of part of the National Socialist ideology, but, also to my way of thinking, was correct in believing that the defeat of the Reich was a disaster for the world and especially for the Anglo-Saxon peoples, as he states quite explicitly.

The very best of Clark's mentality comes out in his love for animals, birds and (although concealed from them in a very British or as Clark would say "upper class" way), his two sons. Like so many, he thought it "important" to be an M.P. and try to be a minister etc (he did briefly make it, though after these Diaries end in 1982), when he could have had a happier life either ignoring ordinary politics or going outside the box of the Lib Lab Con-men. Having said all that, Clark muses, in the mid-1970's "Am I a Renaissance prince, a philosopher king, or an ageing dud?". I think the answer is pretty obvious! It is a pity that he never really focussed.


Alan Clark - Acerbic, Hypochondriac, Lecherous, Lazy, Shocking, Nationalist, Odious, Philanderer BUT Extremely Likeable!, 28 Apr 2007
Alan has been described as the diarist of his century. I disagree with that opinion. Surely, Alan Clark is the diarist of his millennia! I've read Boswell, Pepys, Dorothy Wordsworth, et al, and as outstanding as these were, none can hold a candle to Clark's ability to capture the moment. As for the man himself, you could not invent him if you tried!

I am often nonpluss to find copies of Alan's diaries so readily available for purchase online. I would have thought by now that the secret was out about Alan's unique and irrepeatable tome and all copies of his diaries present and future are sold out!

Perhaps at last, here is the "Great White Hope" that boxing never quite delivered. Acerbic, hurtful, hypochondriac, lecherous, lazy, shocking, nationalist, odious, philanderer, intolerable BUT equally extremely lovable, intellectual, likeable, original, fresh, interesting, affable, utterly human, devastatingly infectious and a national treasure worthy of a statue in Soho! If I have one regret, it is that Alan Clark did not live long enough to help Boris Johnson pen his diaries!

At once, Alan is utterly repellent and utterly butterly! He loved, adored and often worried about his boys James and Andrew and he was so utterly loving and devoted to Jane - but only God knows how he managed that! I secretly quite like him, adore him even and his writing I love - despite his impossible ways. I am sure my poor mother (RIP) would regret ever bringing me up for saying so. And having just admitted that, never again will I be embarrassed for fancying Diana Rigg in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"!.

Reading his diary and knowing he was real does not detract one bit that it would be impossible to invent Alan - he's that unbelievable! Once asked by John Pilger, the Australian journalist - "I read that you were a vegetarian and you are seriously concerned about the way animals are killed. Doesn't that concern extend to the way humans, albeit foreigners are killed?" Answered Clark with characteristic frankness, "Curiously not, no." On the troubles in Northern Ireland, Clark's view was as frank as they were odious: "I concluded that the only solution is to arm the Orangemen - to the teeth - and get out." And on Christmas carol service: "I only can properly enjoy carol services if I am having an illicit affair with someone in the congregation. Why is this? Perhaps because they are essentially pagan, not Christian, celebrations." And of course, a professional cad, to date, he is the only Member of Parliament to have been accused of being drunk at the despatch box! And Alan Clark's Nazi and racist tendencies are well documented in his diaries. He referred to the courtrie of Jewish ministers in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet as "Jew Boys" not to mention Alan Clark's suggestion that immigrants ought to be sent back to "Bongo-Bongo Land"!

As one who came from Bongo-Bongo Land to "This England!"; I found Alan and his diaries irresistible, refreshing and instantly likeable, but odiously so! If that sounds ambivalent, that is because that was the nature of the man himself. However, my ambivalence does not extend to his writing because I cannot heap enough praise on Alan Clark's Diaries (all three volumes). They are without a doubt, the work of a master diarist at the top of his game who is by far the Greatest English diarist of all time!

Yemmi Agbebi - Manchester, UK


Diaries:into Politics, 03 Jun 2003
Strangely enough, I started my Clark diary experience with this one and have since read "In power" which, I think, most people have read first. I am glad I started with this one, as I have now been able to read, in chronological order, the history of Alan Clark. Although I am a political fanatic, it is the non-political aspects which I love about this book. Most political people do not have much of a "hinterland" outside politics but I find Clark's diversions into other fields very interesting: His love of cars, his great knowledge of running large houses, his love of wine, his love of travel (beautiful heartfelt descriptions of many parts of the country), furniture, books, history etc etc. It is also his wicked sense of humour which keeps me reading him. I was most amused by his description of some poor vice-chairman of a Tory constituency party as "literally spastic". I am sure it was not true and I feel sorry for the object of his ire, but between me and the pages I found the exasperation of Clark behind that remark very funny. There is an interesting sub text throughout the book. Clark is obsessed with his looks and the passage of time. He also laments time wasted in meetings, on the train to Plymouth etc and identifies better things he could be doing (like enjoying his castle and its grounds). On balance one is left with the question: is politics really worth turning one's back on all the good things in life?

Will the real Margaret Thatcher ... ?, 04 Jan 2009
Mrs Thatcher once told a TV interviewer that one of her girlhood ambitions had been to become an actress. As Campbell shows, there's no evidence to support this claim, although, paradoxically, it may be the best clue we have to understanding the "real" Margaret Thatcher.

Grocer's daughter, schoolgirl, scientist, lawyer, Tory lady, politician, tigress, milk-snatcher, iron lady, housewife-superstar or, as, many Americans thought, "quite a dame". Will the real Margaret Thatcher, please stand up?

Like his subject, Campbell has done his homework and stuck closely to his brief. No stone is left unturned, no claim unquestioned and no fact unverified. The result is a detailed and well-balanced account of Margaret Roberts' journey from the now legendary corner shop in Grantham to steps of Number 10.

The focus is very much on Mrs Thatcher herself. Current events, politicians and family are only mentioned inasmuch as they affect her personal and political development. Whilst this gives the book a strong narrative feel, it assumes some background knowledge of post war Britain. Readers who weren't around at the time or are unfamiliar with that era's politics may find that some of the minor players merge into an amorphous mass of men in grey suits (although, come to think of it ...)

A good solid five-star read.




A superb portrait of Thatcher's early years, 09 Dec 2008
Few prime ministers loom as large in the British historical imagination as does Margaret Thatcher. Idolized by her supporters and demonized by her detractors, her historical image is as much myth as it is reality, one created in part by Thatcher's own efforts to shape her public profile in politically appealing terms. One of the great achievements of John Campbell in his excellent first volume of his biography of Thatcher is his success in separating the myths from the story of her life and assessing their contribution to defining her image.

This Campbell does starting with the image from the subtitle, that of 'the grocer's daughter'. He skillfully deconstructs this legend, noting that Margaret Roberts's upbringing was neither as humble nor as idyllic as she made it seem and that her father, Alfred was not the hero she would later make him out to be. What emerges instead is a hard-working and determined young woman who pursued politics from a young age. Her career was facilitated greatly by her marriage to Denis Thatcher, who provided emotional and financial support that was indispensable to her rise in politics.

Thatcher's work ethic and drive soon won her office in Edward Heath's cabinet as Secretary of State for Education. Here she gained firsthand exposure to the Whitehall bureaucracy for the first time, an experience that left her less than impressed. Yet even after Heath's defeat in the two successive elections of 1974, his position appeared secure enough to make a challenge to his leadership of the Conservative Party seem foolhardy, and Thatcher's challenge came after more prominent Tory leaders passed on the opportunity. Yet her campaign tapped a deep vein of resentment, and she triumphed against all expectations.

Throughout this, Campbell notes the fortuitous confluence of events that aided her rise. This was best illustrated by her assumption of the Conservative Party leadership at the moment when an opening for her ideology emerged with the breakdown of the democratic socialist consensus. With unemployment swelling to levels not seen since the 1930s, Thatcher was able to exploit the inability of the Labour government to grapple with the problem. The book ends with the Conservative victory in the 1979 general election and Thatcher embarking on her transformative 11-year premiership, the subject of his next volume.

Impressively researched and absorbingly written, Campbell's book is a triumph of the biographical art. He succeeds in presenting a judicious portrait of Thatcher, one that approaches her with skepticism yet never fails to giver her her due. It is the indispensable starting point for understanding this complex and controversial figure, one that is unlikely to be bettered for its description of Thatcher's early years and their role in her political legend.

Fascinating insight, 12 Dec 2007
I read this along with her autobiographies, and of course this is far less biased! It reveals fascinating background information about her postmaster father who was also a local councillor. Campbell suggests realistic reasons behind Thatcher's motives and drive, without delving into unecessary pychobabble.

Anyone with any interest in British politics or history will enjoy this book: it is written in an easy going style, but it is extrememly thorough and thoughtful.

Good quality biography, 22 Mar 2005
A well written and informative account of Margaret Thatcher's rise to power. I found it to be an interesting and enjoyable read but not a top quality biogrpahy for a couple of reasons.

First, the organisation of the material is not very imaginative. It is basically about 50 pages between each election and the focus is on documenting events. I have no problem with this, but the book is definitely not in the calibre of Robert Caro's work on Lyndon Johnson which captures so well both the personality of the figure and the backdrop of the times. Focusing on fewer crucial periods in Thatcher's career to bring out the personality or giving more rich context would have made a more insightful biography. A missed opportunity.

Second, and this is somewhat a niggly point, Campbell overdoes the correction of the Thatcher's memoirs. I don't think anyone really expects a politician's memoirs to be completely accurate. It seems unnecessary to correct points of detail as Campbell does every 3 pages.

A good book on Thatcher, well written but not a 5-star book.

Engaging biography and history, 10 Oct 2004
This well-researched book covers the life of Margaret Thatcher from her birth and her childhood in Grantham to her election as Prime Minister in 1979. Her youth and education are dealt with in the chapters Dutiful Daughter, Serious Schoolgirl and Oxford Tory, whilst the chapter Young Conservative recounts the story of her first job, her marriage to Denis Thatcher and her first spirited election campaigns in safe Labour seats.

The birth of her children, her life as a mother and housewife and her legal studies are discussed in chapter six: Superwoman. This chapter concludes with her stunning victory in the Finchley constituency in the 1959 election. The next two chapters describe her life as a backbencher and a junior minister. Between 1964 and 1970 with the Conservatives in opposition, Thatcher held many different portfolios: junior spokeswoman on pensions, housing and economic policy and member of the shadow cabinet for power, transport and finally education.

After the Tory victory in 1970 she was education secretary for more than three years. The Conservatives were defeated in 1974 and the next year she was elected leader of the opposition, the role dealt with in the chapter of the same name. The exciting election campaign of 1979 is covered in the chapter Into Downing Street, which also deals with the beginning of her long and glorious reign as Prime Minister.

The text is filled with quotes from newspapers and people who played a role in her life. The author has gone to great lengths to be as thorough and meticulous as possible; the research cannot be faulted. Furthermore, Campbell manages to capture the mood of the times very well in his analysis of British history and politics and succeeds in making the detail interesting. For example, the election results for Margaret's Finchley constituency are provided throughout the book, for every election.

As a great admirer of Thatcher, I do not agree with his every conclusion or every single point of opinion, but his work is exhaustive and impressive. It is also quite readable although the avalanche of facts, figures and analysis do sometimes reach overload.

Of the book's 33 black and white photographs, my favourites include a picture of Margaret aged 4 with her sister, the proud mother with twins in 1953 and the future Prime Minister holding a calf in the 1979 election campaign. The book includes 41 pages of notes and references, a vast bibliography and an index.

Along with volume 2, this excellent book will surely stand the test of time as the most authoritative biography of this remarkable woman. I also recommend Thatcher's book Statecraft, a highly readable and insightful look at world politics at the beginning of the 21st century.

When Enoch Powell died in February 1998, British politics lost one of its most remarkable and intelligent figures. A controversial politician, Powell is most widely remembered for his infamous "Rivers of Blood" speech on immigration in 1968 while the Labour government was trying to pass its race relations legislation. He was sacked from the Shadow Cabinet as a result of the ensuing outcry. Whatever the consequences for race relations in Britain--and many would still maintain that Powell helped to engender a climate of fear and mistrust in which National Front activity steadily increased for more than a decade afterwards--the speech destroyed Powell's political career.

In a controversial account of a controversial man, Heffer goes some way towards rescuing Powell from demonisation--though there's no getting away from how hilariously curmudgeonly he often was. He seemed to spend his entire childhood being 81 years old; Heffer's account of the proud, spiky Classical scholar (Powell's precocity in this area was astonishing) poncing about like Socrates, his flirtation with morbid German Romanticism and his desire for war, and his success in the army despite his mannerisms and brusque, self- assured superiority do eventually make him a human, almost sympathetic character; but one is not always sure that Heffer is right to attribute irony to Powell's more drastic remarks rather than, say, arrogance or naivety.

What Heffer has done--remarkably swiftly, given that he only saw Powell's most personal papers after his death--is to provide an enormous, well-sourced and sympathetic biography of a towering yet flawed figure. It has wit and an attention to detail that would have pleased the pedantic Powell in his guise of scholar. The youngest ever British professor, promoted from private to brigadier during World War Two, and a much-loved politician for two parties, Powell also wrote tolerable romantic poetry (in the mould of A.E. Housman). One is left with a sense of sadness that such an intelligent and hard-working man was so coldly intellectual as never to appreciate the appalling consequences of his discussion of race and immigration. Whether or not Powell was a racist (and even his enemies seem to have doubted this) his ideas were received rapturously by those who were. But there was more to the man than that; and this is a surprisingly engaging portrait of a sometimes disagreeable genius. --Robert Potts

Did he buy his own furniture?, 02 Nov 2008
If the late, great Alan Clark had never existed, someone needed to invent him. A clever, verbose, rich, well-connected Lothario whose life was peppered with famous names and places, AC could have come straight from some Mary Sue novelette. You can tell I admire him, but he clearly has his faults. At times reading these diaries, you can see the real snob in him, looking down upon the lower echelons (of which I am one) with a waspish disdain. Yet as you progress through this compelling book, I believe he's not all black and white. He hates yobbos - who doesn't? He ran a large estate yet disliked bloodsports. He condemns the throwing on the scrapheap of working class men from numerous depleted industries. He's cynical and at times a whinger. But he's also blunt and very entertaining. All those parliamentarian's are brought to earth with a bump, at least in the reader's esteem, as Mr Clark calls them names such as "fat creep" and much worse. This book serves as an interesting fly-on-wall account of the Thatcher years, and more importantly, of the Machiavellian shufflings that led to her downfall.

AC passed away in 1999 but I recall one of his last appearances on Question Time. He was so sharp, quick witted and sarcastic that the audience were eating out of his hand - very few politicans of any ideology can claim to do that.

I'm into politics, so to me this book is worth 5 stars. If you're not, you may only rate it at a "measly" 4.

All the fascination of a car wreck, 27 Feb 2005
This, and the other diaries, make excellent, though disturbing, reading. There's no political thought as such here, rather the thoughts of a man who was a member of, and a junior minister in, the Conservative government which led the country for 18 years. A self-styled member of the "upper classes", we get his thoughts on the "lower classes" but not on any real issues. At one point he comments that he expected to become Prime Minister, but we don't find out why. The nearest to a political credo seems to be "the upper classes are better than the lower classes and they should run the country". Welcome to the 18th Century; presumably Thatcher's Victorian values were a bit modern for him. There are some excellent moments, including a footnote on a bizarre theory promoted by Tory toffs that Thatcher wasn't the daughter of Grocer Roberts of Grantham but was fathered by some upper-crust dilletante (the reason given for her having aristocratic "blood" is that she has small feet!!), and the account of Thatcher's fall is marvellous; but whilst Clark was highly intelligent and an excellent writer, he was ultimately a reactionary, priveliged butterfly. He'd probably take that as a compliment.

A tremendous read and re-read...., 06 Sep 2004
Alan Clark's diary is a book that the reader can read and re-read, find favourite passages time and time again and then quite unexpectedly discover new entries that will become the new favourite passages.
The book follows Clark through his time as a Junior Minister and his successes, failures and plotting in his various posts, his endless trips abroad and wasted afternoons in pointless and tedious meetings and visits to his constituency. He longs to have higher office but probably knows that cerrtain 'indiscretions' and his often radical views will rule him out of this. Clark's views are wide-ranging and radical and strong views are expressed ranging from animals to the 'lower classes'. He also expresses admiration for unlikely opponents such as Dennis Skinner MP and cries when he is forced to shoot a heron. This is what makes him such a fascinating individual. He is not predictable and the reader does not know what to expect next.
The reader also sees Clark and his rich and varied private life - at points it seems he exists to only spot pretty girls in the crowd. What does come through, however, is his love for his wife, although, as he himself says, he often treats her badly, and his love of his trips to Zermatt and Scotland. This is a man who is privileged and has lived well.
The other editions of the diaires are also well worth reading and I defy anyone not to be moved to tears at the end of the final volume.
In conclusion many readers may find Clark unlikeable but they must ask themsleves what would the public reaction be to the publication of their own diaires?? Read this book, enjoy it and take it with a pinch of salt and hope that more individualistic politicians such as Clark will enter public life.

Political or not - you should read this book, 05 Mar 2001
A brilliant warts-and-all expose of the United Kingdom's runaway political party of the 1980's. Deeply honest, often brilliant, occasionally slipping into self-pitying apathy, Alan Clark documents a uniquely personal (and, many would say, uncomfort