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Chargement... You Can't Say That: Memoirs (2011)par Ken Livingstone
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Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. An odd read in the first few chapters, where Ken just seemed to be setting up simple life lessons from each chapter. Once he had been elected the rollercoaster from winning control of the GLC to abolition to winning the Mayoralty in 2000 then losing it in 2008 was a great read, especially for those who were around at the time and remember that ripe cast of characters. It does get more than a bit self-exculpatory over the decline in his second term as Mayor and 2008 defeat , and the the last chapter is a fairly weak critique of politics and Boris in particular that did not bode well for the 2012 election. He's gone but I wish him well. In the end, like most politicians, he was in large part the author of his own defeat.
For 700 gruelling pages, we are trapped in Ken’s political vivarium, breathing the smells, fighting off the circling bluebottles, reliving a lifetime’s struggles for vital centimetres of tank space. This book is not for the faint-hearted: no nuance of the battles for Lambeth's housing department in the 70s is spared, or Labour's tactics to win the 1981 Greater London Council election which turned him into a household name – or, more recently, his struggle to rebut efforts to portray him as a bigot and his mayoral administration as corrupt. But it comes alive in Livingstone's evocation of each period: of the brazen racism of the late 60s Labour right and local Maoist groups organising night-time training to prepare for an armed uprising in the 70s – along with his accounts of conflicts and causes, from Rhodesia and Vietnam to Afghanistan. Aside from recounting his chilly working-class upbringing in south London - by Tory parents - the personal detail is remarkably thin. Indeed there is little sense of an emotional life at all, sometimes in very odd ways - notably his matter-of-fact rationale for fathering three children with two women, neither of them girlfriends, while himself living with someone else.
The turbulent true story from one of Britain's foremost politicians on over 40 years battling at the front line of social issues, as well as against the Blair and Thatcher governments. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)941.085092History and Geography Europe British Isles Historical periods of British Isles 1837- Period of Victoria and House of Windsor 1945-1999 History, geographic treatment, biography BiographyClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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For my part, I have always quite liked him but, I have been disappointed by the silly 'Hitler' storm that broke a while back. I do not see what he hoped to achieve by mentioning the Fuhrer in the context of the Jewish people. This tome was penned before this incident so, it doesn't really shed any light on the matter.
The main thing that I picked up from reading this was, that our political system is in desperate need of reform. Ken points out many dirty tricks played, mainly by the Tories, but which are undoubtedly replicated by the left and certainly by Blairite Labour political workers. Whilst this may be seen, by those currently in the sphere, as 'playing the game' or the pros and cons of everyday politics, it is clearly off putting to the man, or woman, in the street.
Ken Livingstone may be one of those politicians who might be described as Marmite, but no one could accuse him of not being committed to his beliefs and this is a great story of his dedication and, on the whole, achievements for the average person. ( )