Intriguing and engaging book... sets up fascinating parallels that prove there is really nothing new in politics

A gloriously indiscreet political memoir... From a unique vantage point he gives brilliantly observed and witty accounts of the vanity of modern European princes... The merit of Powell's memoir is precisely that it lacks the intrusive ego of the big politician

It's a quirky, thoughtful take on the impact of The Prince on modern politics

Anyone who wants an insider's account of what makes politicians tick should read this book

It tells us a great deal about the era that has just passed

An elegant memoir... a guide to the exercise of power in the modern world

A thoroughly revealing insiders account

Powell is surprisingly indiscreet with his anecdotes and asides, which give intriguing glimpses into ministerial chicanery. Absorbing and entertaining, his memoir also has the topical interest of showing scant period critique Rupert Murdoch's empire

There's a refreshing directness to this gloriously indiscreet political memoir. The merit of it is precisely that it lacks the intrusive ego of the big politician

If ever anyone was perfectly placed to turn over the stones on the personal traumas of the major player of the Blair era it is Powell... an intriguing and intelligent treatise on the exercise of power.

What makes his memoir so absorbing as it swings from clever phrase-making and thoughtful contemporary history to wince-inducing self-analysis, is that he is the first of a generation of politicians to conduct their craft as if observing themselves from an amused an admiring distance - and then to write about it. No recent politician has examines his own motives and psychology quite so candidly

It is the small revelations about the character of Blair that make this book worthwhile

It's a gripping insight into the ex-PM's ten years of power . . . It will take a lot for many people to read his own take on the rise and fall of New Labour, but those that do might be reminded of the charm and vision that swept him to power

I have read many a prime ministerial memoir and none of the other authors has been as self-deprecating, as willing to admit mistakes and to tell jokes against themselves

Paints a candid picture of his friend and rival, Gordon Brown, and of their relationship