The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour
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Product Description
The hotly anticipated memoir of one of New Labour’s three founding architects. Peter Mandelson is one of the most influential politicians of modern times. The Third Man is his tale — of a life played out in the backroom and then on the frontline of the Labour Party during its unprecedented three terms in government. Much of the book is devoted to the defining political relationships of Peter Mandelson’s life — with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Charting what he terms the ’soap-opera’ years of the Labour government, his book is certain to ruffle many feathers. Forced to resign from Cabinet twice in three years, Peter Mandelson has cut a divisive figure through British politics but his time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland gained him many supporters. He was a highly regarded European Commissioner before being brought back into British politics by Gordon Brown in 2008 to serve as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and as First Secretary. Containing a mixture of autobiography, personal reflection and political history, The Third Man draws heavily on detailed diary notes that Peter Mandelson took during the events, discussions and meetings that shaped the government and the Labour Party over 25 years. He started writing the book while serving as European Commissioner, and has been completing it since leaving office in May. Much has been written about Peter Mandelson as the person at the heart of the New Labour project but this is the first time we have heard the unvarnished truth from the man himself. The Third Man is set to become the most talked about political memoir of the year.
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No, politicians aren’t the most well loved people in the world, and I reflect it’s honest to say that “Mandy” is one of the worst of an already terrible bunch. The New Labour project finished in disaster under the rule of Gordon Brown; but from this book alone I got the thought that it could have been so much better had ego’s been set aside and the right modernising ambition of the New Labour triumvirate place first. No really a book filled with political “revelations ” as a lot of the tales told within, the public were already aware of, the tales told by Mandelson were merely his perspective and generally went along the lines of “it was a name else’s fault” or “it wasn’t as terrible as the papers were building out”.
There are a number of issues that Mandelson failed to really place across and really made worse in my view. He mentioned the “cash for honours” scandal which enveloped and nearly ruined the Labour government at one point. He mentioned that various names would make donations to the party and “expect something in return” but did nothing to try and clarify away or justify the assumption of corruption you can get from this, really he puts across the assumption that if you reflect it’s corruption, then you’re a bit silly. Naturally the Brown/Blair rivalry, which begun with the alleged deal allegedly made in the Granita restaurant, plays reasonably a prominent part in the book but it wasn’t exactly surprising considering the time it was unrestricted and Mandelson’s role in the feud.
The deal is never confirmed nor denied in the book, although Mandelson marks a deal to step down after two terms as “unlikely”, mention that it’s possible a deal to step down and support Gordon as leader was made, but insists on the unlikelihood that Blair would have agreed to an exact timetable. The thought of Gordon Brown having reasonably a volatile personality isn’t exactly new as we’ve heard about it from time to time during the entire part of the New Labour government. I felt that Mandelson described Gordon as the villain of the piece; a man hell bent on achieving the power of Prime Minister, but was ultimately brought down by his own determination and ego. The strong and aggressive ego of Gordon Brown was not the only problem of New Labour as Blair was painted as weak, and only kept Gordon Brown as chancellor because he feared a Brown revolt if he would attempt to remove him.
Although not exactly the most well loved person in the world, Mandelson is known for his charm and fun sense of humour. Sorry to say, a lot of this seems to be lost within the pages of the book as it lacks any real emotion or humour; this isn’t lacking trying, but. He would have a go at explaining emotional reactions to certain situations, but you wouldn’t really feel it as it just appeared he was including certain things possibly because the publisher told him more emotion would make him appear more human. The epilogue of the book is one of the better parts of the whole thing, not because it’s the last chapter of the book, but because he uses this as a means of shiny on the years gone by and acknowledging the mistakes he and the New Labour project made during their time before and during their time in government.
It was a excellent and informative book. I would have liked a more personal background to his life, especially his upbringing, and I would have certainly loved more genuine emotion invested into the life tale. Of course, this book was rushed out in order to capitalise on the hype of the recent all-purpose election, and the rushing is evidenced in a number of obvious spelling and grammatical errors, which would have been ironed out had more time been spent on ensuring the book’s overall quality. l. I’m sure he will pop up in a future Labour government (whenever that may be) as he’s become the political itch that you can get rid of for a fleeting time, but permanently returns when you least expect it. Factually engaging and politically intriguing this is a welcome addition to any bookshelf.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5