Hinterland

Description

All serious politicians are supposed to possess a hinterland, but not all do. Chris Mullin was one who did. By the time he entered parliament he had reported from the wars in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and tracked down the survivors of the CIA operation in Tibet. He was the author of three novels, including the classic A Very British Coup. His successful campaign to free the innocent people convicted of the Birmingham bombings was described as 'one of the greatest feats ever achieved by an investigative reporter'. Elected to parliament, aged 39, he quickly established himself as a fearless inquisitor before going on to become a minister in three departments. His three volumes of diaries have been widely acclaimed as the best account of the Blair years and the rise and fall New Labour. He left parliament in 2010 ('better to go while people are still asking why rather than when'). These are his memoirs.

Chris Mullin was the Labour MP for Sunderland South from 1987 until 2010. He played a key role in Tony Blair's New Labour government, chairing the Home Affairs Select Committee and served in three departments. He is the author of three volumes of diaries, A View from the Foothills, A Walk-On Part and Decline and Fall, and the bestselling novel A Very British Coup, re-published by Serpent's Tail, which was turned into an award-winning television series.

Hinterland reveals Mullin to be as shrewd a political operator as they come, but fiercely principled and blessed with rare insight, too. Parliament, and Labour, must miss him. -- Ben East * Irish Times * Fluent, accessible, candid, likeable, literate and unpretentious... [Mullin has] decency, humanity and generosity in abundance. -- Carlo Geber * Irish Times * Praise for Chris Mullin's previous books: 'The sharpest and most revealing political diaries since Alan Clarke's. -- Simon Hoggart * Guardian * Chris Mullin's diaries deserve to become the central text for understanding the Blair years. * The Times * Every once in a while, political diaries emerge that are so irreverent and insightful that they are destined to be handed out as leaving presents in offices across Whitehall for years to come. A View from the Foothills is one such book * David Cameron * Hinterland is another canny, deceptively casual Mullin performance. -- Andy Beckett * Guardian * [a] subtle, wry and compassionate man with the kind of questioning intelligence that we need more in government... He is a touching and introspective writer, capable of both devotion and detachment. -- Robert Shrimsley * Financial Times * You can't keep a good politician down, especially not one who writes as well as this. * New Statesman *