A remarkable book, written by a remarkable women

Never have I finished reading a book with tears in my eyes. Even though I have read quite a few of the flurry of autobiographies set in"20th century China. This one is set apart. Written by a remarkable, intelligent women whose spirit and insight into humanity will stay with me for ever. I have never thought or looked for personal inspiration from one person, after reading this book one cannot help but be inspired.
Set apart from other biographies of the same ilk, in that this is one persons story,(not family) articulating a remarkable understanding of such a complex countries politics all while suffering the inhumanity of (wronged) imprisonment. Never have I read a book and wanted to know more about the author. Just to know if she found peace of mind (or some semblance of it)

Unputdownably good

There are so few politicians who say what they think. Tony Benn is one of those who does and he does it so entertainingly. Ruth Winstone's editing is brilliant and completely invisible and the diaries themelves range from the touching and human to the crotchety. I'm not sure I'd want to live with TB for a week. But they are hilarious too, featuring his encounters with the kind of strange people he seems to attract, whether it's George Galloway or any number of nutcases on the bus. A tremendous read: makes you think, laugh and cry. Very easy to pick up and really hard to put down.

Dull

There are lots of flaws with this book which others have picked up and argued over. I'd like to add that it's dull.

A fascinating story

While I agree with the reviewer that the writing and editing could have been better, I myself was utterly fascinated by this story and did not want to stop reading each evening when I had to. True, the faithful family friends are not mentioned much. However, the author's recall after 20 years is astonishing. The fact that she can get lost just walking around the block due to the disorientation caused by 20 years of imprisonment might shed some light on her sometimes disjointed writing style. I highly recommend this book. I have been reading a lot of prisoners' accounts from around the world, and this is one of the best.

A must-read for those interested in Victorian England

Henry Mayhew, founder of Punch magazine, wrote this four-volume sociological classic during the 1850's. If you are at all interested in the Victorian era, in British history, in London, or in urban history in general, this is a must-read. This version is abridged and is a distillation of the"best" of the multiple-volume set. This distillation is itself over 500 pages, so imagine the impact of the entire set! The utter destitution of the London poor is set out in such vivid detail than one cannot help being shocked at the conditions human beings were forced to live in in the greatest city of its time. The only fault I find with this book is Mayhew's occasional lapses into preaching. Otherwise a fine book.

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

This is suitable to all listeners, regardless of age, political leaning, nationality or religion. The Lady talks incredibly well and is often entertaining. One thoroughly surprising aspect of these tapes is the amount of events that punctuated her time at number ten. There are great insights into the miners' strike, the Falkland Conflict, hyperinflation and a transition of power to John Major - a wholly different political animal. She's no Andrew Marr, but she really is a stunning political force who was quite simply without rival during her day - hence the power vacuum she left behind.<br /><br />Educational, historically interesting and entertaining. Highly recommended.

Who said Politics was boring?

I have watched Mark Thomas on television for years now and have always thought he was brilliant. This is his first book and his writing style is very like his stand up routine. As I read the book I could almost see him standing up on stage reciting the words. <br />The book charts Mark investigates Britain involvement in the armaments industry and how much influence the arms companies have over the government here. <br />It is a brilliant read very informative the only thing I would say is that it would be good if he had an action plan for people to get involved.<br /><br />

A non-partisan biogrpahy of a VERY partisan person...

John Campbell has produced an extremely insightful biography, and although it is the first volume, contains some of the best analysis about Thatcher ever written.

Taking as its' basic premise the fact that she claimed to be so indebted to her father, he assiduously looks into her life and ideology prior to 1979 to see if this statement stands up to repeated scrutiny.

Although in this sense it is somewhat of a revisionist account, Campbell is scrupulously fair to Thatcher. He analyses her strengths fairly, and succeeds in producing what must be one of the last partisan biographies to have been written about her. Whilst her claimed links with the past are found wanting - the main thrust is that she manipulated her past to gain political advancement, he does succeed in explaining how she became to dominent political figure of the late 20th century. As a politics student who did not live through the time, it was interestign to see how the perceptions of her altered as time passed, and how she built up her image following her election as Leader of the Opposition in 1975.

One can only hope that Campbell's book on her period in Government is as balanced and as scrupulous as this volume.

a Revelation

What a fantastic book. Aung San Suu Kyi led her democratic party to victory in the first supposedly open Burmese Elections in the nineteen eighties. Since then her party has been victimised, the fascist government refusing to let them come to power, and she has been under house arrest for much of the time since. She has been cut off from her family in England and has suffered much (her husband died of cancer while she was under house arrest). In this series of letters written for a Japanese newspaper, she sums up her life, her achievements, her feelings about Burma and its state over the course of a year.<br />These are wonderful letters, inspirational, truthful, always with a core of dignity and hope for the future. She tells the truth about her country, describing it as both beautiful and cruel, never flinching from the unpalatable, and always ready to celebrate what is joyful and uplifting.<br />Necessary if you are interested in any way in the history and culture of Burma and its peoples, but also if you are interested in the fight to protect and provide basic human rights.

An atmospheric tour into the world of journalism

W. F. Deedes has a life full of stories to tell, stories which we would all like to be a part of. As a journalist myself it gave me the opportunity to experience a career which watches history unfold and then has the chance to shape it. Deedes takes us through his eighty plus years of writing from work as a reporter on the Morning Post, to his time in Ethiopia, all the way through to his relationship with Diana.

If anyone has a story to tell it is him and Dear Bill does it so well. His words become a book of pictures, unique to each reader.

Life-saver for anyone studying Stalin for the new AS and A2

This is a fantastic book which brings together everything you need to know about Stalinist Russia in an easy to absorb way. It's great for use as a revision tool and can be read quickly and easily for an overview of the period. Key terms in the margin of the book are particularly good in familiarising the reader with Russian words and simplifying technical terms etc. Summaries at the end of each chapter have worked well for me as a revision checklist. All in all- a great buy!

An Agreeably Readable and Perceptive History

With the full encouragement of Prof. Norman Gash, THE authority on the age of Peel, Douglas Hurd has put his many years of political experience as well as his skills as a novelist together to bring to life the career of one of Britain's greatest Prime Ministers. The previous reviews of this book give the details. I endorse their findings. If you enjoy British history, you will enjoy this book.

Greatness Deserved

Geoffrey Best has produced an excellent biography of Churchill - a single volume of manageable length unlikely to be bettered. The writing is elegant, Churchill's life and work comprehensively covered and Best's judgments are soundly based. The strength of this biography lies in Best's ability to paint a vivid picture of Churchill's character, virtues as well as vices, family and public life, without loosing balance or feeling the need to stoop to sensationalism.

Churchill's life was an epic adventure from his birth at Blenheim Palace, that stately monument to his ancestor whose military victory opened the first chapter of Great Britain's rise as great power to his death and state funeral, the a fitting final chapter to the same story. Given his background, his romantic attachment to Great Britain and her rightful place in the world, and his difficulty with accepting the constraints of political parties - he changed twice- Churchill was far from being a typical politician, although he never wavered from his belief in the yoke of democracy and the supremacy of the House of Commons. But the many apparent contradictions and political mistakes, none of which Best seeks to gloss over or excuse, were but facets of the complex character of the one man able to assume leadership of the nation at the time of its darkest hour in 1940 and guide it to victory. This achievement, above all else - and there was much more - justifies Churchill's claim to greatness.

Perhaps this book is best summed up in Best's own words:" I found the great man I had always supposed to be there; less great in some respects that were new to me, and with many more idiosyncracies than I could have thought possible, but with a title to a place in any pantheon not wholly reserved for stars of screen, song and stadium; and, besides all that, an extraordinary many-sided human being whom it has been exhilarating to study."

More than just a Classic.

If you are not moved profoundly by this book; to think, feel and behave more humanely and pro-actively then you need a heart and brain transplant!<br /><br />Cliched pics and a formulaic approach to the narrative do not change the fact that this book will be an utter classic. <br /><br />Deceptively simply worded, this is a thought provoking and inspiring tale of survival that will both open a window on 21st century oppression and return feelings of the sheer resilience of the human spirit. <br /><br />Enter, if you will, a world of professionally-designed torment and hate; witness the magnanimous dignity that overcame, as far as humanly possible, policies created and enacted by evil geniuses. <br /><br />Ostensibly the narrative is about a young Turk from Germany: 'collateral damage' in the 'Global War on Terror', yet this book is testament to far greater issues, issues of such magnitude that to describe them as Orwellian or Kafkaesque would be to grotesquely underplay them. It reveals the realities of the proponents of Freedom and Human Rights in a disarmingly factual manner. <br /><br />There is a Germanic black humour, seemingly strained with the waters of the steppes of Turkey and the Caucasus, that punctuates the narrative. The very presence of humour, while inimicable to the human spirit, is only fitting in a book such as this due to the unmistakable nature of what the reader is witnessing: The sheer intensity of will to survive, both physically and intellectually, that this young man exudes. <br /><br />This book is a desperately needed testament from Kurnaz to a world ravaged by sinful propaganda built on the backs of those who did not survive to tell the tale. He credits his religious faith with helping him survive where teams of psychologists and psyhchiatrists would have him fail. <br /><br />Becuase this is indeed a portrait of the crucifixation of humanity from those who teach us about human rights. If Christ, who receives mention in the text, was around today, which side of the razor-edged fence would he be on? <br /><br />This book should be required reading 'American Culture', International Politics and Human Rights course everywhere.<br /><br />Perhaps there is one quote that sets the focus in this true-life and on-going narrative: 'We will do to you what the Germans did to the Jews'.<br />We would do well to not ignore the American's remark.

Read this book, then pass it on!

A real eye opener. Brutal, tear-rending revelations of how one portion of humanity is treating another, told with a steady and enlightened perspective. A very valuable piece of biography that every public library would benefit from holding. Read this book and you will be an instant convert to the Tibetan cause. Don't be surprised if you want to pass it on to others as soon as you finish the last page.

Well written, trust worthy account of guantanamo bay

This is a very well written account of the live of Moazzam Begg which draws on his experience of Guantanamo bay as its main topic, but also delves into his early life. It mentions his membership of street gangs in the 1980s and reveals an interesting personality who is prepared to fight for what he belives in.<br />However, it is important to bear in mind that this is only one mans opinion. Moazzam says he witnesses two murders and multiple beatings in Guantanamo bay, and this provides us with a more credable report of the conditions there than the general media could possibly provide. However, we must rely on his word, which may not be entirely true. <br />A good read, recommended to almost anybody with an opinion on modern politics. Take it with a pinch of salt.