Blair memoirs due in September
Former prime minister Tony Blair will publish his memoirs in September, publisher Random House has announced.
The ex-leader, who won a historic third term for Labour despite the controversy of the Iraq war, will have his say in a volume of memoirs called Tony Blair: The Journey due out in time for the autumn conferences.
Mr Blair indicated the book’s approach was to seek to influence the future as much as look at the past – an attitude seen in his evidence to the Iraq inquiry when he issued warnings about the threat posed by Iran to the Middle East and wider global security.
“I have tried to write a book which describes the human as much as the political dimensions of life as prime minister,” he said.
“Though necessarily retrospective, it is an attempt to inform and shape current and future thinking as much as an historical account of the past.”
Random House said the book was a “frank” and “revealing” account of Mr Blair’s ten years in Downing Street.
Its chief executive Gail Rebuck said the book would “break new ground in prime ministerial memoirs”.
“As an account of the nature and uses of power, it will have a readership that extends well beyond politics, to all those who want to understand the challenge of leadership in today’s world,” she promised.
Mr Blair’s memoirs follow the autobiography of his wife, the lawyer Cherie Booth, which was widely criticised by reviewers.
Review: Speaking for Myself by Cherie Blair
The former prime minister has been in the public eye this year because of his appearance before the Iraq inquiry. He may yet be called for a second session of evidence, giving him further public exposure in the run-up to the book’s publication.
