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  • A Journey

  • By: Tony Blair
  • Narrated by: Tony Blair
  • Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (34 ratings)

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A Journey

By: Tony Blair
Narrated by: Tony Blair
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Publisher's Summary

Tony Blair is the politician who defines our times. His emergence as Labour leader in 1994 marked a seismic shift in British politics. Within a few short years, he had transformed his party and rallied the country behind him, becoming prime minister in 1997 with the biggest victory in Labour’s history, and bringing to an end 18 years of Conservative government. He took Labour to a historic three terms in office, as the dominant political figure of the last two decades.

A Journey is Tony Blair’s first-hand account of his years in office and beyond. Here he describes for the first time his role in shaping our recent history, from the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death to the war on terror. He reveals the leadership decisions that were necessary to reinvent his party, the relationships with colleagues such as Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson, the gruelling negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland, the battles over education and health, the implementation of the biggest reforms to public services since 1945, and his relationships with leaders on the world stage, including Clinton, Putin, and Bush. He analyses the belief in ethical intervention that led to his decisions to go to war, in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and, most controversially of all, in Iraq.

A Journey is a book about the nature and uses of political power. In frank, unflinching, often wry detail, Tony Blair charts the ups and downs of his career to provide insight into the man, as well as the politician and statesman. He explores the challenges of leadership, and explains why he took on public opinion to stand up for what he believed in. Few British prime ministers have shaped the nation’s course as profoundly as Tony Blair, and his achievements and his legacy will be debated for years to come. Amid the millions of words written about him, this book is unique: his own journey, in his own words.

©2010 Tony Blair (P)2010 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"Love Tony Blair or hate him, his own reading… is extremely compelling. The abridgement…omits many of the careless cruelties crowed over by reviewers of the book, and interestingly, Gordon Brown comes out of it remarkably well."( Christina Hardyment, The Times)
"This book will be a fantastic surprise: erratically written, full of self-mythologising vanity and carefully calculated candour, it is also funny, ruthless and unputdownable... Blair clearly relishes the opportunity to tell it as he saw it. After years of minding his PMQs, our former leader gives it to us with both barrels... "( Allison Pearson, Daily Telegraph. 4 Star review)
"Such was the outburst of instant and largely hostile reaction when this book hit the newsstands …that almost everyone failed to notice that it is very good… it is a very good book because it tells the reader more clearly than any other prime ministerial memoir I know why the author thinks what he things and did what he did."( Charles Moore, Telegraph)
"...in its own way it’s brilliant… I have to admit that he has produced one of the most readable and engaging political autobiographies I’ve ever come across. [it is] very funny, often startling, always colloquial and direct. It is packed with information, vivid images and telling anecdotes… Blair takes you to the centre of the action, to the sweat-stained hyperactive heart of government, where life and death decisions are taken by the day." ( Herald Scotland)

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Tony down a few notches after this

Like many, I suspect, I long for the days when the Tories had some real opposition and so it is perhaps through rose tinted glasses that I remember the years when the Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, were in power.
The Northern Ireland peace deal, so recklessly jeopardised by the Brexit obsessed current incumbents, was the jewel in Blair's crown, and I was hoping for a bit of that "feel good factor" to trickle back to me through hearing Tony's long and detailed recollections of such events he made happen.
Ironically, as chapter after chapter went on, my wife and I found ourselves, instead, becoming more irritated by the man's boundless self-righteousness and silly faith in religion.
The hubris of demanding Gordon Brown agree to stick to Blair's "New Labour" program before letting go of the reigns of power was astonishing to listen to. The callous way Blair (not the Tories) justified bringing in loans for university students so that UK institutions of education could compete, like businesses, with the top ones in the US was as illuminating as it was depressing.
I thought Blair made a reasonable defence of his actions in Iraq... the lesser of two evils, but overall Tony went down a few notches for me.
It was good to hear all this from the horses mouth and even though Blair's accent did start to grate "a bət" I remain convinced that the best Audible books are read by the author.
Despite my misgivings on the Blair years, obviously I wish it was him at No 10 right now and not BoJo the Clown and I would recommend this to anyone who feels the same way.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Swansong on a career

A retrospective swansong on the many choices made as PM. At times informative, at others intensely self-abosrbed. Reasonably well read but at times fairly monotone.

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