The Blair Effect Book

In The Blair Effect, Arthur Seldon has brought together a group of academics and journalists to produce the best book on the Blair government we are likely to get this side of the general election. In an unprecedented period of news management and spin doctoring, they knock the shine off the ball and tell it how it how it really has been. There is no disinformation to deal with here, but instead deft and analytical dealing with all the reverse swing--the 28 experts in their own fields cut through the political cackle and objectively lay down the effects of Blair's first four years. They are by no means hostile. The contributors coolly and conscientiously analyse what Blair and his ministerial colleagues have achieved. No Labour government in history, as Seldon points out, has come to power with so many initial advantages. Seldon is especially instructive in his overview, synthesising the arguments in two revealing tables on the net effects and the quality of the government work, but it is invidious to particularise on a book which is so full of astute observations and reflections. All of his contributors have important points to make across the whole spectrum of politics and the workings of Whitehall. Anyone seriously interested in politics, whatever their persuasion, should put it at the top of their reading list.-- Michael HatfieldRead More