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neil_denham's review against another edition
2.0
Not much I can say about this book that has not been said by many others, well worth a read if you are at all interested in modern politics, and perhaps the most influential person of my lifetime.
paulrjsr's review
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
2.75
Blair's memoirs do justice neither to his character nor to the influence - good and bad - that his reign had on Britain. A rushed introduction covering his ascendance to the top of the Labour party, but not the societal context that lead to it, quickly leads to an equally rushed presentation of his premiership thoroughly lacking in the same introspection that characterised Barack Obama's recounting of his time as US president. Blair spends most of the time justifying his mistakes and trying to convince the reader of the brilliance of his time on office, rather than spend time on the personal anecdotes, conversations and doubts that necessarily come with the job description. The book ends up coming off more like an ad for Blairite labour than a truly representative memoir. Add to this a sometimes rather uncomfortable writing style, and "A Journey" fails to reach the heights of the books of other great political leaders.
roisinnc's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Overall I would recommend this book especially for those who are less familiar with the New Labour years. Primarily read as needed a few chapters for an essay and then decided might as well read the whole thing. Parts are fascinating particularly around certain decisions made in his time such as on the Good Friday Agreement. Blair is surprisingly quite candid throughout (except when it comes to talking about Iraq). Some parts is very much him trying to frame the narrative of how he is viewed in history with how he passes over certain failures and I am sure he is not completely 100% open about the reality of some of the events and relationships he describes.
mikesmith's review
5.0
This is a great autobiography, likely best suited for someone not very familiar with Tony Blair or British politics because he spends a great deal of time on the basics of his experience and Recent British history. It does help that I believe he espouses a very practical set of beliefs. He shows that his decisions were guided by a belief in what is right, not a belief that the other guy is wrong about everything and must thus be opposed. We need a leader in our own country strong enough to abandon the limits of party politics to govern as those of us in the disenfranchised middle would govern, making choices that are truly just rather than choices that support extreme political values.
It's interesting that we call terrorists extremists bit then allow ourselves to be governed by men and women who refuse to acknowledge the value if debate, or worse, switch policy leanings not out of persuasion but purely out of a desire to keep a political opponent from accomplishing anything. Really it would be better if politicians remembered the other party is not the enemy, because the team should be U-S-A. All should want what is best for our country.
Blair presents a solid case championing the middle. I find myself wishing he could help guide our country. Some day we need a president who sounds more like a swing voter than a Republican or Democratic fundraiser.
It's interesting that we call terrorists extremists bit then allow ourselves to be governed by men and women who refuse to acknowledge the value if debate, or worse, switch policy leanings not out of persuasion but purely out of a desire to keep a political opponent from accomplishing anything. Really it would be better if politicians remembered the other party is not the enemy, because the team should be U-S-A. All should want what is best for our country.
Blair presents a solid case championing the middle. I find myself wishing he could help guide our country. Some day we need a president who sounds more like a swing voter than a Republican or Democratic fundraiser.
rossa's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting during recounts of major events 911 etc but otherwise for someone that's not really into politics it's boring..
canada_matt's review against another edition
4.0
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.