The Blair Years: The Alastair Campbell Diaries

Tony Blair was one of Great Britain's youngest and longest-serving prime ministers, and Campbell was Blair's spokesman and later press secretary from 1994 to 2003, accompanying Blair through his initial, hugely successful campaign for prime minister, the reform of the Labour Party, the death of Princess Diana, the Clinton presidency, 9/11 and the war in Iraq. The style of Campbell's diaries, full of shorthand and acronyms (“TB” for Tony Blair, “BC” for Bill Clinton), takes some getting used to but pays off in immediacy and candor; rather than a polished account of events, Campbell gives readers refreshingly unvarnished impressions of what occurred at the time it was occurring, free of spin or second-guessing. People behave badly—swearing, losing tempers, perspiring, dressing inappropriately and lusting after women—and political fortunes, as well as marriages, suffer the strain. Appearances by Bill Clinton (in the midst of the Lewinsky fallout) are remarkable for the vulnerability they reveal, and the arrangements for Diana's funeral, made by the Blair cabinet and the royal family together, exhibit a fascinating mix of compassion and calculation (Blair comments shrewdly, “She will become an icon straight away. She will live on as an icon.”) As readers watch Blair navigate the shoals of political life, they, like the author, will emerge admiring him and appreciating the frank and ultimately flattering portrait that Campbell provides. (Aug.)