The Third Man; Life at the Heart of New Labour

London: Harper Press, 2010. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Neale Haynes (Jacket photography) and Peter Marlow. xxiii, [1], 584 pages. Illustrations (some in color). Index. Some page discoloration noted. Signed by the author on the title page. Contains List of Illustrations; Acknowledgments, and Introduction, as well as Epilogue and Index. Chapter titles are: 'Can You Help Me?'; Born into Labour; A Brilliant Defeat; The Three Musketeers; An Impossible Choice; Being Peter; Being Fired; Fighting, Not Quitting; Back in the Shadows'; Trading Places; Comeback Kid; -The End of new Labour?--Epilogue. Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson PC (born 21 October 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010. He was President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and from 2008 to 2010. He is the president of international think tank Policy Network, honorary president of the Great Britain-China Centre, and chairman of strategic advisory firm Global Counsel. From 1985 to 1990, Mandelson served as Labour's Director of Communications. He was one of the first to whom the term 'spin doctor' was applied. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004 and held a number of Cabinet positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He was the European Commissioner for Trade between 2004 and 2008. Mandelson was one of several key people responsible for the rebranding of the Labour Party as New Labour. He was twice forced to resign from the Cabinet. He later rejoined the Cabinet for a third time after being created a life peer, sitting in the House of Lords. He is the only person to have been First Secretary of State as a Peer. After the Labour Party lost the 2010 general election, Mandelson's memoirs, The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour, were published in July 2010, two months after leaving office. The memoirs were subsequently criticized by Labour leadership contenders Ed and David Miliband and Andy Burnham. The revelatory memoir of one of New Labor's three founding architects is devoted to the "soap opera" years of Labor government and the breakdown of relationships between Mandelson, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown. Drawing heavily on detailed diary notes he took during the events that shaped the British government for more than 25 years, Peter Mandelson tells his story of a life played out in the backrooms and on the frontlines of the Labor Party during its unprecedented three terms in government in this mixture of autobiography, personal reflection, and political history. He began writing the book while serving as European Commissioner and completed it since leaving office in May 2010. His revelations include that the relationship between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown became so hostile that Blair described his chancellor as "mad, bad, dangerous, and beyond redemption" and likened Brown's behavior to that of a "mafioso" in his dealings with him. Much has been written about Mandelson as the person at the heart of the New Labor project, but here is the unvarnished truth from the man himself. Publisher's summary: Peter Mandelson is one of the most influential politicians of modern times. The Third Man is his story - of a life played out in the backroom and then on the frontline of the Labour Party during its unprecedented three terms in government. Much of the book is devoted to the defining political relationships of Peter Mandelson's life - with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Charting what he terms the ‘soap-opera' years of the Labour government, his book is certain to ruffle many feathers. Forced to resign from the Cabinet twice in three years, Peter Mandelson has cut a divisive figure through British politics, but his time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland gained him many supporters. He was a highly regarded European Commissioner before being brought back into British politics by Gordon Brown in 2008 to serve as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and as First Secretary. Containing a mixture of autobiography, personal reflection, and political history, The Third Man draws heavily on detailed diary notes that Peter Mandelson took during the events, discussions, and meetings that shaped the government and the Labour Party over 25 years. He began writing the book while serving as European Commissioner, and has been completing it since leaving office in May. Much has been written about Peter Mandelson as the person at the heart of the New Labour project, but this is the first time we have heard the unvarnished truth from the man himself. The Third Man is set to become the most talked about political memoir of the year.