Diaries

Alan Clark's Diaries are the best account of the last quarter of a century of British politics. The first volume was published to enormous acclaim and bestselling success in hardback and paperback (30 weeks overall on the Sunday Times bestseller list). As The Times wrote in a leading article: 'The best diarists, from Pepys and Boswell, to 'Chips' Channon and Harold Nicolson, have been the souls of indiscretion. But none so indiscreet as Mr Clark...For its Pooterish self-assessment, for Mr Toad's enthusiasm for new things, for Byron's caddishness, for its deadly candour, it is one of the great works in the genre.' 'Into Politics' begins in 1973 with Clark's selection as Tory candidate for Nancy Astor's old seat in Plymouth (rival candidates included future Conservative luminaries, Michael Howard and Norman Fowler) his election to the Commons in the 1974 general election. His years as a backbencher coincide with Edward Heath as PM, his downfall and the arrival of Margaret Thatcher. This volume ends with the inside story of the Falklands War.In his private life Alan and his wife Jane and their two young sons take over Saltwood Castle (previously the home of his father Kenneth (Civilisation) Clark).
His enthusiasms for the estate, skiing, fast cars and girls are never far away. For the hundreds of thousands of readers who were enthralled by the first volume, 'Into Politics' will be an event.