A Journey (Abridged): My Political Life Audiobook

" Aside from the occasional, amusing anecdote, this book was mostly disappointing. Tony Blair revolutionized the Labour Party, and yet he spends a paltry 30 to 40 pages describing the development of his thought process into the "New Labour" transformation. Frankly, it's intellectually shallow enough that, after having read his book, I'm actually beginning to buy the allegations that New Labour was a less a coherent political philosophy and more an electoral strategy. The chapter about the Northern Ireland peace process is both engrossing and instructive, I think, but little else is in the book. His defense of Iraq is reasonable but unrevealing of anything that wasn't or hasn't already been said. Last, his final couple of chapters, dealing with his last few years in office, continuously fighting off calls for his departure, were mostly boring and overly detailed. Gordon Brown doesn't like him. He strayed too far from the base of the party, etc., etc. I get it. I don't need a blow-by-blow analysis. Still, there are some delightful tidbits of info, like his hillarious and extreme antipathy towards PM Questions, some of his early experiences in the party when he got dominated, and a few absurd moments during the Good Friday negotiations. On the whole, Blair comes across as a thoroughly nice fellow, an electoral dynamo, a resolute (dare I say stubborn?) decision-maker, and a hardworker. But where will that leave him amongst the pantheon of British PMs? He's not really an intellectual giant, and, if his New Labour policies are undone by his own party, nor will he be thought of as a political one. "

" Disappointing. Expected a great book from such an interesting speaker but it was a very self-congratulatory bio. "

" I enjoy and appreciate this volume. I enjoyed the perspective "

" I was looking forward to a good read, alas it became tedious after a few chapters, I then decided to read about specific topics, "Dianne" which was interesting, his view on the newer generation of royals, comparing it with the queen who is duty bound, upperclass, stiff and as far as I am concerned boring as all get out, the only good thing going for her, she maintains her looks, but I would imagine living for 85+ years and being waited on hand and foot, would not cause too much wear. Interesting of the turmoil within her own family, I wonder if she ever feels that she should have devoted more time to her children when they were young in stead of having others take care of them.. I then read about his decision to enter the war with the us, his relationship with bush, one can tell blair is a diplomat, and is very careful in not offending anyone, the book therefore in spite of its many pages, and chapters, appeared to me like "I will tell you only what I want you to know", I felt at the start of the book it held great promise, describing his background, talking about his Father, her should have spent more time in talking about those years. After choosing the chapters to read, I feel I know nothing about tony blair as a person, and when I see his face I always think of his smile being a facade of what may be going on inside of him, off course he is british, and above all, you must at all time show a stiff upper lip "

" I loved learning about the intricacies of Blair's life and his political rise to power, as well as his keeping the GB Team from staging their inevitable coup. Blair writes a thoroughly enjoyable memoir, one that I would insist the politically-minded individual read. "

" Excellent book. TB is one the great politicians of our age. This book really tells you why. "

" An overly long, self-serving, attempt to justify his leadership of Great Britain and "New Labour". The man certainly has a healthy ego. Reads like he dictated it. "

" A good read. He comes across well and it shows how he had a vision of getting into power and making a difference. Few agree with all he did but he demonstrated that change had to happen and he pushed through those changes against significant opposition. "

" not the best policial biography have read before "

" An honest account of his time as prime minister. Although perhaps not the whole truth. Really interesting read, and he speaks respectfully of his colleagues - he didn't take this as an opportunity to air dirty laundry. And some funny moments too. Worth wading through the 660 pages. "

" Was not what I expected and stopped reading it at pp.50 "

" Mr. Blair comes across as self-important. Only he could achieve this and do that. "

" I enjoyed the read...if you're a political junkie, and enjoy UK politics, then this is a surprisingly earnest accounting of Blair's rise and fall. "

" Tony Blair spends too much time being a gentleman and making sure to compliment every last person he has ever disagreed with. Gut this book of 436 pages and it might have the beginnings of a good memoir. Although I like Tony Blair, I deeply, deeply dislike his editor. "

" This is not riveting blow-by-blow action and intrigue, but is one of the best and most important books I have ever read. It is the ultimate leadership handbook, by one of the greatest leaders of centuries 20 and 21. I will write more when I have time. "

" I enjoyed listening to Tony Blair himself read these memoirs. Even though one expects such books to be self serving, I find them to provide new insights about the world's political leaders. This is one of several of this genre I have listened to this past year. "

" Fascinating stuff. Blair is not a great writer, and the conversational style grates at times, but it's still an extremely interesting insight into the life of the most successful UK politician of the last 25 years. "

" I enjoy reading books on the lives of contemporary and past leaders. No question about it, I had a lot to learn about British politics. Much of which I discovered was not applicable to my personal life, but casually interesting none the less. "

" Enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and got through it quicker than I thought I would. Interesting to me as I spent my first 8 years in the UK during Blair's run. Really interesting to hear his rationale for a lot of the decisions that I disagreed with. "

" I enjoyed the book, was very interesting & informative. Learned a great many things. "

" Surprisingly lightfooted observations. Not exactly a heavy weight or detailed analysis of the world as it was or indeed is still. The personality shines through clear and bright, even if you don't necessarily agree with some policy decisions. A surpisingly quick and enjoyable, if lightweight read. "

" Very interesting and personal look into Tony Blair as Britain's Prime Minister. A good read! "

" An honest account of his time as prime minister. Although perhaps not the whole truth. Really interesting read, and he speaks respectfully of his colleagues - he didn't take this as an opportunity to air dirty laundry. And some funny moments too. Worth wading through the 660 pages. "

" Tony Blair spends too much time being a gentleman and making sure to compliment every last person he has ever disagreed with. Gut this book of 436 pages and it might have the beginnings of a good memoir. Although I like Tony Blair, I deeply, deeply dislike his editor. "

" This is a very interesting book. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Diana and the royal family and Northern Ireland. I got bogged down in some of the local politics chapters. "

" I enjoyed the read...if you're a political junkie, and enjoy UK politics, then this is a surprisingly earnest accounting of Blair's rise and fall. "