| A Journey | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Tony Blair |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Memoir |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | 1 September 2010 |
| Pages | 624 |
| ISBN | 009192555X |
| OCLC Number | 657172683 |
A Journey is a memoir written by Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 1997 and 2007. Published on 1 September 2010, it is an account of how he became leader of the Labour Party in 1994 and transformed the party into "New Labour"; the party held power for a record three successive terms. The book also details events after his resignation and replacement as Prime Minister by his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. The memoir was initially titled The Journey, and plans to publish it were announced in March 2010; it was renamed A Journey prior to publishing. Blair donated his £4.6m advance, and all subsequent royalties, to the British Armed Forces charity the Royal British Legion; this decision received a mixed reception. Within hours of being launched, it became the fastest-selling autobiography of all time in one chain of book stores. Protesters disapproving of the Iraq War disrupted a book signing in Dublin on the weekend after the launch. This led to the cancellation of a book signing and launch party in London, amid fears of further hostility.
The book covers much-debated issues such as Blair's latterly strained relationship with Brown after allegedly making a pact with him in 1994 to step down much earlier, as well as his controversial decision to take Britain into war with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the aftermath of which, Blair says in the book, was a "nightmare". The publication discusses Labour's future following Brown's defeat in the May 2010 general election; his relations with the Royal Family; and how he came to "like and admire" President George W. Bush. In the final chapter, Blair warns that Labour must not return to the left-wing policies of the 1980s. Mixed reviews of the memoir appeared in the media; some journalists criticised Blair's writing style, but others praised the publication, saying the book was "candid." British novelist John Lanchester described the book as "a detailed account of scrambling, scraping, horse-trading, bluffing, and fudging the way to a deal—a remarkable combination of the ramshackle and the historic."
Along with media reaction, several prominent figures expressed their views about the book. Gordon Brown was reportedly "seething" over the criticism he received from Blair in the book, but he told aides not to criticise the publication. Labour politician Alistair Darling said the book "shows us what can be done when we have confidence, clarity and a clear sense of purpose: we can win and change the country for the better." Families of servicemen and servicewomen who were killed in Iraq reacted angrily to the book, in which Blair does not apologise for the invasion; a spokesperson for an organisation against the Iraq War described Blair's comments about regretting the loss of life as "completely meaningless." Shortly after the release of the book, the screenwriter of the 2006 film The Queen, which depicts Blair's first months in office, accused Blair of plagiarising dialogue from the film in his description of a conversation with Elizabeth II.
Contents |
In March 2010, it was reported that Blair's memoirs, titled The Journey, would be published in September of that year.[1] On 4 March, Gail Rebuck, chairman and chief executive of Random House, announced that the memoirs would be published by Hutchinson in the United Kingdom.[2] Rebuck predicted that the book would "break new ground in prime ministerial memoirs just as Blair himself broke the mould of British politics."[1] Preliminary images of the book's cover, showing Blair in an open-neck shirt, were released.[3] In July, the memoir was retitled as A Journey; one publishing expert said the decision was likely made to make Blair appear "less messianic".[3] Random House did not give a specific reason for the decision, describing it as a "minor editorial decision".[3] It was announced the book would by published by Knopf in the United States and Canada[4] under the title A Journey: My Political Life;[5] and in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India, by Random House.[4] The book was also released as an audiobook, read by Blair.[6]
On 16 August 2010, Blair announced that he would give the £4.6m advance and all royalties from his memoirs to a sports centre for injured soldiers.[7][8][9] BBC political correspondent Norman Smith said Blair's severest critics would see the donation as "guilt money" for taking the UK to war against Iraq in 2003.[9] The father of a soldier killed in Iraq said the donation was "blood money".[9] The father of a soldier killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq said he did not think Blair made the donation "with a good heart," but because he had a "guilty conscience."[10] A spokesperson for the Stop the War Coalition welcomed the donation, but added, "[N]o proportion of Tony Blair's massive and ill-gotten fortune can buy him innocence or forgiveness. He took this country to war on a series of lies against the best legal advice and in defiance of majority opinion."[7] A spokesman for Blair said that it had long been his intention to give the money to a charity; he added aiding soldiers undergoing rehabilitation at the Battle Back Challenge Centre was "his way of honouring their courage and sacrifice."[9] The announcement was welcomed by Chris Simpkins, director general of the Royal British Legion, who said, "Mr Blair's generosity is much appreciated and will help us to make a real and lasting difference to the lives of hundreds of injured personnel."[9]
A Journey was published on 1 September, and within hours of its launch it became the fastest-selling autobiography of all time at bookseller Waterstone's,[11] where it sold more copies in one day than Peter Mandelson's The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour had done in its first three weeks after publication in July;[12] the book went straight to No. 1 on Amazon.co.uk's British bestseller list.[11] On 8 September, Nielsen BookScan, which provides data for the book publishing industry, said that 92,000 copies of A Journey had been sold in the United Kingdom in less than a week, the best opening week for an autobiography since the company began keeping figures in 1998.[13]The New York Times reported that in the United States, an initial print run of 50,000 copies had been extended by another 25,000, with the book set to debut at No. 3 on The New York Times hardcover best-seller list on 19 September.[14] Commenting on its success, Andrew Lake, the political book-buyer at Waterstone's, said,
Nothing can compare to the level of interest shown in this book. You have to look at hugely successful fiction authors such as Dan Brown or JK Rowling to find books that have sold more quickly on their first day. Mandelson may remain the prince but Blair has reclaimed his title as king, certainly in terms of book sales.[15]
To coincide with the book's release, Blair recorded a series of promotional interviews for radio and television, which were broadcast on 1 September. Among the media to screen these interviews were the Arabic television network Al Jazeera, the ITV1 daytime magazine programme This Morning,[15] and BBC Two, which aired an hour-long interview with Andrew Marr.[16] Blair was in Washington, D. C. on the day of the book's launch to participate in peace talks with Middle East leaders, and to attend a White House dinner with Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Israeli and Palestinian leaders.[17][18] British newspaper The Independent reported that Blair's visit to the United States was a coincidence, and not an attempt to be out of the United Kingdom when the book was published.[15] On 4 September, when Blair arrived for his first book signing at a leading bookshop on O'Connell Street, Dublin, demonstrators opposed to the Iraq War heckled, jeered and threw eggs and shoes at him; none of the objects hit him. One activist pretended to be a purchaser of the book in order to attempt a citizen's arrest of Blair for war crimes.[19][20][21] Protestors clashed with Irish police and tried to push over a security barrier outside the shop. The demonstrators—anti-war protestors and Irish republicans opposed to the peace process—shouted abuse at those queueing to meet Tony Blair, calling them "traitors" and "West Brits".[19] Four people were arrested during the incident.[20]
On 6 September, several days after the launch of the book, Blair appeared on the inaugural edition of British television programme Daybreak, where he criticised the Dublin protestors as a small minority given undue media attention. Citing the already good sales figures, he expressed doubts over whether a forthcoming book signing in London on 8 September was justifiable and worth the inevitable disruption, given fears that the British National Party and other hostile groups were planning to get involved in the protests.[22] Later in the day it was confirmed the signing at Waterstone's in Piccadilly would not go ahead.[23][24] On 7 September, a spokesman for Blair announced that a planned launch party for the book scheduled for the next evening at the Tate Modern would take place despite plans by the Stop the War Coalition to hold a demonstration against the event.[25] However, the following day this event was also cancelled as a result of threats of disruption by campaigners.[26] In the weeks following the publication, a number of media organisations reported that copies of A Journey were being moved from autobiographical sections in bookshops to sections on crime and horror.[27][28][29] More than 10,000 people had joined a page on the social networking site Facebook which called for members of the public to move the books as a protest against the Iraq War.[27] A member of the group said,
I don't condone the violent acts of protest, but I completely understand the public's anger. I feel it too, I just decided to lead by example on a funny idea that was knocked around the net. And funny it is—but there is a serious message. Tony Blair is a liar, a cheat and a coward.[28]
A Journey is Tony Blair's account of his time as leader of the Labour Party and his subsequent years as British Prime Minister following his party's victory at the 1997 general election. In the book, Blair describes his often difficult relationship with Chancellor Gordon Brown as being "like a couple who loved each other, arguing over whose career should come first",[30] and he calls Brown a "strange guy".[31] who had "zero" emotional intelligence,[32] He says he promised Brown in 2003 that he would resign before the next general election, but later changed his mind.[33] He accuses him of blackmail,[34] claiming that his former Chancellor threatened to call for a Labour Party inquiry into the cash for honours affair during an argument over pension policy.[35] Blair admits that he was behind the decision to hand control of interest rates to the Bank of England rather than Brown.[36] Labour's 2010 election defeat is blamed on Brown, who Blair accuses of abandoning New Labour's policies.[32] He does have some praise for him, however, crediting him with being a good Chancellor and a committed public servant.[32] "So was he difficult, at times maddening? Yes. But he was also strong, capable and brilliant, and those were qualities for which I never lost respect," he says of Brown. "When it's said that I should have sacked him, or demoted him, this takes no account of the fact that had I done so, the party and the Government would have been severely and immediately destabilised ... It is easy to say now, in the light of his tenure as prime minister, that I should have stopped it; at the time that would have been well nigh impossible."[37]
Blair discusses at length his thoughts on military intervention in Iraq, saying, "Friends opposed to the war think I'm being obstinate; others, less friendly, think I'm being delusional," but he concedes that the aftermath of the invasion was a "nightmare".[37] Blair defends his decision to go to war, saying Saddam Hussein "[h]ad not abandoned the strategy of WMD [weapons of mass destruction], merely made a tactical decision to put it into abeyance".[38] He says that he would make the same decision again with regard to Iran, warning that if that country develops nuclear weapons it will change the balance of power of the Middle East to the region's detriment.[39] Of the situation in Iraq, he writes that some problems require a "resolution" and fester if left unattended.[40] On the loss of life in Iraq, he says,
Tears, though there have been many, do not encompass it. I feel desperately sorry for them, sorry for the lives cut short, sorry for the families whose bereavement is made worse by the controversy over why their loved ones died, sorry for the utterly unfair selection that the loss should be theirs.[41]
He also writes of wanting George W. Bush, who spearheaded the Iraq invasion, to win a second term as President of the United States in 2004.[42] "George had immense simplicity in how he saw the world," he says of Bush in the book. "Right or wrong, it led to decisive leadership. I had come to like and admire George. I was asked recently which of the political leaders I had met had most integrity. I listed George near the top."[43] On his role in the Northern Ireland peace process, Blair refers to having used "a certain amount of creative ambiguity" during negotiations,[44] saying that the process would not have succeeded without it. He claims to have stretched the truth "on occasions past breaking point" in the run-up to the 2007 power-sharing deal which enabled the return of devolved legislative powers from Westminster to the Northern Ireland Executive.[45] He praises both Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin for the part they played in the peace process.[45] On the subject of the British Royal Family, Blair writes of conversations he had with Elizabeth II.[46] At their first meeting following his election he claims Elizabeth II told him, "You are my tenth prime minister. The first was Winston. That was before you were born."[47] He tells of another occasion following the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in which he says Elizabeth II told him that lessons had to be learned from the way things had been handled after the Princess's death.[48] He also recounts a gathering at Balmoral Castle during which Prince Philip operated the barbecue and Elizabeth II donned a pair of rubber gloves to wash up afterwards.[49][50]
While he denies a dependence on alcohol, Blair says that he started drinking while in office to cope with his relationship with Brown.[43] "By the standards of days gone by I was not even remotely a toper, and I couldn't do lunchtime drinking except on Christmas Day, but if you took the thing everyone always lies about—units per week—I was definitely at the outer limit," he says. "Stiff whisky or G&T before dinner, couple of glasses of wine or even half a bottle with it. So not excessively excessive. I had a limit. But I was aware that it had become a prop."[51] Blair describes alcohol as "a relief to pressure. It is a stimulant. It can make a boring evening tolerable. But it plays a part in your life."[52] Blair says that Brown was right to restructure British banks and introduce an economic stimulus after the financial crisis, but says that he would have slowly increased VAT and other taxes—a process known as "stealth tax"—which his government was regularly criticised for doing.[43] "The role of government is to stabilise and then get out of the way as quickly as economically sensible," Blair writes.[43] Blair claims in the publication that he had a premonition that his predecessor, John Smith, would die less than a month before he did so in 1994.[53] Blair goes on to say that he knew that he would be the one to succeed Smith as Labour leader rather than Gordon Brown, who had been a strong contender for the job.[53] He talks of "devouring" his wife Cherie in a passionate lovemaking session on the night he decided to run for the leadership.[54][55][56] The final chapter of the book is a critique of Labour Party policy and discusses the party's future, with Blair warning Gordon Brown's successor that if Labour is to remain electable they should continue with the policies of New Labour and not return to the left-wing policies of the 1980s.[57] He says,
I won three elections. Up to then, Labour had never even won two successive full terms. The longest Labour government had lasted six years. This lasted 13. It could have gone on longer, had it not abandoned New Labour.[37]
The book received a mixed reception from critics. Lionel Barber, editor of The Financial Times wrote that Blair's autobiography was "part psychodrama, part treatise on the frustrations of leadership in a modern democracy," saying it is "written in a chummy style with touches of Mills & Boon". Barber further writes, "Blair comes across as likable, if manipulative; capable of dissembling while wonderfully fluent; in short, a brilliant modern politician (whatever his moans about the media)."[58] Writing in The Independent on Sunday, Geoffrey Beattie called the book "revelatory". He added the book offered an understanding of Blair's "underlying psychology."[59] He said,
Tony Blair's A Journey is a revelatory book in many ways, offering a glimpse into the mind of a political leader during tumultuous times ... it is sufficiently candid and detailed to give us some insight into the man's underlying psychology, and sometimes it is the smallest detail that can be the most interesting.[59]
John Rentoul, author of the Blair biography Tony Blair Prime Minister, was equally positive, giving particular praise to the chapter on the Iraq War. "The chapter on Iraq is tightly argued in some detail, which may persuade those with open minds to recognise that the decision to join the US invasion was a reasonable, if not very successful, one, rather than a conspiracy against life, the universe and everything decent," he said.[60] The New York Times praised Blair for his openness in the publication, saying. "When speaking about the challenges of his first term in office, Blair writes honestly and openly," the newspaper said. "The style is not the elegant Oxbridge prose that might have been expected of a former prime minister but one filled with Americanisms. It is breezy, informal and candid enough to keep the reader thoroughly engaged."[61] However, the newspaper attacked Blair's "sweeping generalizations" about terrorism,[61] saying, "Regarding the war on terror, the book assumes a very different character. It is marked by grand statements, sweeping generalizations, constant evocations of destiny and national character, and long quotations from government reports and Blair’s speeches. All that was gray becomes black and white."[61]
Other reviewers gave the book a less positive reception. Writing in The Observer, political journalist and author Andrew Rawnsley was critical of Blair's writing style. "It is Tony Blair's boast that he wrote every word in longhand 'on hundreds of notepads'. That I believe," he wrote. "He was the most brilliant communicator of his era as a platform speaker or television interviewee, but he can be a ghastly writer. Anyone thinking about taking this journey needs to be given a travel advisory: much of the prose is execrable ... I could say that it is a pity that Tony Blair did not employ a ghostwriter to prettify the prose and organise his recollections more elegantly." Rawnsley does, though, praise the book as being "a more honest political memoir than most and more open in many respects than I had anticipated."[62] Mary Ann Sieghart, writing for The Independent said, "whatever its faults, and toe-curling passages, [A Journey] has many good lessons on how to succeed in both opposition and government.[63] The Daily Mail, on the other hand, dismissed the book as "more Bridget Jones than Henry Kissinger."[64] Julian Glover, a columnist in The Guardian, said that "no political memoir has ever been like this: a book written as if in a dream—or a nightmare; a literary out-of-body experience. By turns honest, confused, memorable, boastful, fitfully endearing, important, lazy, shallow, rambling and intellectually correct, it scampers through the last two decades like a trashy airport read."[65] Glover also criticises Blair's prose, but says that "you can't put it down." He adds, "At times its great flaws are magicked away by his brilliance as a politician, the man who can make you believe. Then, pages later, you feel almost sick. There are at least three gushing sexual passages, more Mills and Boon than prime ministerial memoir."[65]
British journalist Toby Young, author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, a memoir charting his failed five-year effort to become a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine, said that A Journey read like the "latest salvo from Katie Price in her ongoing battle with Peter André."[66] Young said, "I was expecting some high-minded lessons in the art of statesmanship, not a series of jaw-dropping revelations about Gordon Brown. Reading these memoirs, you get the impression that Tony Blair’s visceral hatred of his chief rival has clouded his political judgment. Champagne corks will be popping in Downing Street tonight because A Journey does very little to enhance the reputation of either Blair or Brown."[66] Anthony Seldon, author of a biography of Blair entitled Blair Unbound, said that the book "tells a lot."[54] He told Sky News, "It could have been a much better book if he had reflected more and he needed to be more candid about the most controversial war that Britain has fought in decades, about why he didn't do more to prepare for the aftermath in Iraq."[54] Political blog politics.co.uk described the book as "a rather clever bit of defensive rhetoric" which Blair uses to defend his decisions while in power.[67] The article continued, however, to say the article is written in a different style to other political memoirs. "Reports that it was not ghost written must surely be true. You can almost hear him talking. Certain moments see his undoubted political genius translate into exquisite writing."[67] The Oxonian Review regards the "folksy, well-paced, and at times cinematic" memoir as reflecting Blair's attempt to grasp for "an understanding of his political life, its evolution from fearful popularity to courageous ignominy."[68] Writing in American magazine The New Yorker, British novelist John Lanchester said that the book was "a detailed account of scrambling, scraping, horse-trading, bluffing, and fudging the way to a deal—a remarkable combination of the ramshackle and the historic."[69] The Sunday Telegraph was extremely critical of Blair's writing style. "If Blair wants to tell you a funny story, he makes the mistake of signalling in advance that you should be laughing—what happened was 'hilarious', his first weekend at Balmoral was 'utterly freaky'—thereby strangling the anecdote at birth. The book, like its author, is slightly embarrassing."[70] However, the newspaper said that the book was "all a little sad,"[70] saying,
The author feels unappreciated. He says the book is 'a letter to the country I love', but at present it does not seem to love him back. This is perhaps because Tony Blair, at the height of his power, persuaded people that he really did understand them.[70]
On 3 September 2010 The Daily Telegraph reported that Elizabeth II felt a "profound sense of disappointment" in Blair for breaking with protocol by revealing in his memoirs sensitive details of private conversations he had with her during his time as Prime Minister. It is generally accepted that a Prime Minister does not discuss details of conversations he has with the Queen. A spokesman for Buckingham Palace told the newspaper, "No prime minister before has ever done this and we can only hope that it will never happen again."[71] On 5 September, The Sunday Express claimed, quoting "renowned Royal biographer Hugo Vickers" and other "Royal insiders", that due to the book's contents, Elizabeth II would withhold granting him the Order of the Thistle, an honour which is bestowed on the sovereign's personal prerogative, which is given almost automatically to leaders of Scottish descent after leaving office.[72] On 3 September The Independent reported that Gordon Brown was said to be "seething" and "dismayed" over the criticism he received from Blair in the book, but had told aides not to criticise it.[73] Ed Balls, a Brown ally who served in his government as Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families said, "It would have been much better if the memoirs had been a celebration of success rather than recriminations. In that sense I thought it was all a bit sad. It was so one-sided. I didn't think it was comradely."[73]
Several more of Blair's former colleagues and political opponents also commented on the book. Former Conservative minister Norman Tebbit wrote in The Daily Telegraph, "A Journey seems to be dominated by Blair's anxiety to be seen as a great political leader who changed his country for the better. In fact it is, as I suppose all such books are to some extent, entirely about justifying himself and blaming others." However, Tebbit admitted he had not read the book at the time of writing about it and bases his opinion on media coverage of its content.[74] Writing in The Guardian, Alistair Darling, who was Chancellor under Gordon Brown's government, said that he "read with wry amusement how Tony Blair felt after much agonising that he couldn't sack his Chancellor. History has a habit of repeating itself." He concluded that the book was "a good read and shows us what can be done when we have confidence, clarity and a clear sense of purpose: we can win and change the country for the better."[75] Labour MP Tom Harris said that the book "will be a reminder that opposition doesn't have to be permanent, and that great things can be accomplished by a Labour government, but only if we have a leader capable of appealing to voters beyond our own party's core." Of Blair, he said, "There are still many, many Labour Party members who remember Blair as an election-winning genius who, in office, was popular for an awful lot longer than he was unpopular."[76] Ed Miliband, who was elected as Leader of the Labour Party several weeks after the release of the book, said on the day of its publication,
I think it is time to move on from Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson and to move on from the New Labour establishment and that is the candidate that I am at this election who can best turn the page. I think frankly most members of the public will want us to turn the page.[76]
Families of servicemen and servicewomen who were killed in Iraq reacted angrily to the book, in which Blair does not apologise for the invasion.[77][78] "I can't regret the decision to go to war. I can say never did I guess the bloody, destructive and chaotic nightmare that unfolded—and that too is part of the responsibility," he says in the book.[77] Reg Keys, whose son Tom Keys was killed in the country in 2005, said that the book was "just crocodile tears from Blair."[77] Keys said, "The tears he claims to have shed are nothing like the tears I and my wife have shed for our son. They are nothing like the tears that tens of thousands of Iraqis have shed for their loved ones. They don't even come close to it. They seem to me like crocodile tears. It is a cynical attempt to sanitise his legacy."[79] A spokesperson for Military Families Against the War said that Blair's expression of regret over the loss of life was "completely meaningless." The spokesperson added, "He has to prove his regret and giving money to charity doesn't come close. He is giving a miniscule amount compared to the cost of war and rehabilitation of injured soldiers. It is laughable."[77][78]
Some of the dialogue Blair uses to describe his first meeting with Elizabeth II led to accusations of possible plagiarism from Peter Morgan, the screenwriter of the 2006 biopic The Queen, which recounts events during the first few months of Blair's premiership. Blair recalls his first meeting with Elizabeth II in which she tells him, "You are my 10th prime minister. The first was Winston. That was before you were born." In the film, Helen Mirren's fictionalised Elizabeth II tells him, "You are my 10th prime minister, Mr. Blair. My first was Winston Churchill."[80][81] Morgan told The Daily Telegraph on 8 September that he had imagined the dialogue for this conversation, as no record of conversations between a Monarch and a Prime Minister are kept.[80] He said,
There are three possibilities. The first is I guessed absolutely perfectly, which is highly unlikely; the second is Blair decided to endorse what I imagined as the official line; and the third is that he had one gin and tonic too many and confused the scene in the film with what had actually happened, and this I find amusing because he always insisted he had never even seen it.[80]
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