How to Wield Power in the Modern World

The New Machiavelli

From a former close adviser to Tony Blair, a devastating, frank and insightful analysis of how power is wielded in the modern world

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

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.

After studying history at Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania, Jonathan Powell worked for the BBC and Granada TV before joining the Foreign Office in 1979. In 1994 Mr Blair, then Leader of the Opposition, poached him to join his`kitchen cabinet' as his Chief of Staff. When Labour achieved its landslide victory in 1997 Powell was at the heart of the Downing Street machine. He was the only senior member of staff to remain at Blair's side throughout his time at the top of British politics. He has always maintained a low profile and has never before told his story.

The New Machiavelli is a gripping account of life inside 'the bunker' of Number 10. In his twenty-first century reworking of Niccolo Machiavelli's influential masterpiece, The Prince, Jonathan Powell - Tony Blair's Chief of Staff from 1994 - 2007 - recounts the inside story of that period, drawing on his own unpublished diaries. 
 
Taking the lessons of Machiavelli derived from his experience as an official in fifteenth-century Florence, Powell shows how these lessons can still apply today. Illustrating each of Machiavelli's maxims with a description of events that occurred during Tony Blair's time as Prime Minister, The New Machiavelli is designed to be The Prince for modern times.

Making Peace in Northern Ireland

Great Hatred, Little Room

The definitive account of the Northern Ireland Peace Process, by one of the key players - Tony Blair's ex-Chief of Staff, Jonathan Powell.

Fascinating and fast-moving... an extraordinary book

A powerful contribution to the history of Anglo-Irish relations

A fascinating book. No-one else could provide such an insider's account, for he was the only one to be involved in the detail of every tortuous step

Jonathan Powell has produced one of the half-dozen best books on the Troubles... He was the ultimate insider... Powell writes in a personal manner, with deft character sketches

This is the best-informed rough draft of history so far written by someone who was on the roller-coaster ride to a settlement

Students of government will find Powell's book a treasure trove

He is an engaging witness to the events that brought peace to the benighted north - largely because he wants no future role in politics and can afford to be outspoken

All parties should consult Powell’s meticulous account of negotiations that underpinned the peace process

After studying history at Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania, Jonathan Powell worked for the BBC and Granada TV before joining the Foreign Office in 1979. In 1994 Mr Blair, then Leader of the Opposition, poached him to join his `kitchen cabinet' as his Chief of Staff. When Labour achieved its landslide victory in 1997 Powell was at the heart of the Downing Street machine. He was the only senior member of staff to remain at Blair's side throughout his time at the top of British politics. He has always maintained a low profile and has never before told his story.

Making peace in Northern Ireland was the greatest success of the Blair government, and one of the greatest achievements in British politics since the Second World War. In Jonathan Powell's masterly account we learn just how close the talks leading to the Good Friday agreement came to collapse and how the parties finally reached a deal. 
 
Pithy, outspoken and precise, Powell, Tony Blair's chief of staff and chief negotiator, gives us that rarest of things, a true insider's account of politics at the highest level. He demonstrates how the events in Northern Ireland have valuable lessons for those seeking to end conflict in other parts of the world and shows us how the process of making peace is sometimes messy and often blackly comic.

Jonathan Powell

Essential reading for all parties in conflict

This is an inspiring book. You’ll enter the New Year shaking hands with all.

This is an unusual, indeed a unique, book

The book is an enthralling case study of the art, in which Powell carefully establishes his argument for why dialogue with terror groups is usually necessary

It is a witty, light-footed, anecdote-rich history of the recent art of talking to terrorists

Thoughtful, well-structured, intelligent and well-informed

Intelligent and insightful book on conflict resolution

How to End Armed Conflicts

Across the world governments proclaim that they will never ‘negotiate with evil’. 
 
And yet they always have and always will. 
 
 From jungle clearings to stately homes and anonymous airport hotels, Talking to Terrorists puts us in the room with the terrorists, secret agents and go-betweens who seek to change the course of history. 
 
 Jonathan Powell has spent nearly two decades mediating between governments and terrorist organisations. Drawing on conflicts from Colombia and Sri Lanka to Palestine and South Africa, this optimistic, wide-ranging, authoritative book is about how and why we should talk to terrorists. 
 
‘Essential reading’ Independent 
 
‘Fascinating’ Sunday Times 
 
Now includes a new Afterword - Talking to ISIL 
 
*Perfect for fans of The Looming Tower*

Jonathan Powell

Praise for Talking to Terrorists

Essential reading for all parties in conflict

Fascinating

This is an inspiring book. You’ll enter the New Year shaking hands with all.

Essential reading for all parties in conflict

Fascinating

This is an inspiring book. You’ll enter the New Year shaking hands with all.

Essential reading for all parties in conflict

Fascinating

This is an inspiring book. You’ll enter the New Year shaking hands with all.

Books by Jonathan Powell

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