First Confession
A Sort of Memoir
1st Edition
Published on 22. June 2017
288 pages
978-0-241-27560-3 (ISBN)
Description
Chris Patten was a cradle Catholic (hence First Confession), became on the most prominent Tory 'Wets' of the 1980s and 1990s, and went on to hold a series of prominent public offices - Chairman of the Conservative Party, the last Governor of Hong Kong, European Commissioner for External Affairs, Chancellor of Oxford University, Chairman of the BBC, advisor to the Pope - as he self-deprecatingly puts it 'a Grand Poo-bah, the Lord High Everything Else'. He writes with wry humour about his time in all these offices, taking us behind the scenes and showing us unexpected sides of many of the great figures of the day. No political writer is so purely enjoyable as Chris Patten.
Reviews / Votes
Draws on his experience of four controversial institutions - the Tory party, the Vatican, the Chinese government and the BBC - to swell the tiny list of intelligent and cultured memoirs by front-line politicians -- Mark Lawson * New Statesman, Books of the Year * A defence of liberal conservatism ... If old-style centrism is to stage a comeback and reason to supplant stridency and authoritarianism, be it in west or east, the moderates can wave Patten's book on their way to their barricades -- Jonathan Fenby * Financial Times * Engagingly frank, beefily pugnacious ... ... he writes stirringly -- John Preston * Sunday Telegraph * Vivid, very well-written, First Confession joins the highest tier of recent works by British politicians -- Paschal Donohoe * Irish Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
File size
21,05 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-241-27560-3 (9780241275603)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
06/2018
Penguin Books Ltd
€16.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Book
06/2017
Allen Lane
€44.76
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Person
Chris Patten is currently Chancellor of Oxford University. As a British MP (1979-92) he served as Minister for Overseas Development, Secretary of State for the Environment and Chairman of the Conservative Party, being described afterwards as 'the best Tory Prime Minister we never had' (Observer). He is well known for being the last Governor of Hong Kong (1992-7), about which he wrote in East and West (1998). Both that and his most recent book, Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths about World Affairs (2005), were No. 1 international bestsellers. In 2008 he wrote What Next? Surviving the Twenty-First Century. He was made a Companion of Honour in 1998 and a life peer in 2005.
