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Politics On the Edge

byRory Stewart, Rory Stewart (Read by)

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A political journey through turbulent times

Over the course of a decade from 2010, Rory Stewart went from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister - before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise.

Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow and inadequate our democracy and government had become. Cronyism, ignorance and sheer incompetence ran rampant. Around him, individual politicians laid the foundations for the political and economic chaos of today.

Stewart emerged battered but with a profound affection for his constituency of Penrith and the Border, and a deep direct insight into the era of populism and global conflict.

Politics On the Edge invites us into the mind of one of the most interesting actors on the British political stage. Uncompromising, candid and darkly humorous, this is his story of the challenges, absurdities and realities of political life; a new classic of political memoir and a remarkable portrait of our age.

There’s no denying that Rory Stewart stands almost alone among British politicians: he’s one of a handful who can actually turn a phrase. That talent is put to good use here — no other account of how Cameron Toryism curdled into May and Johnson is likely to be as evocative or amusing as this one

The Times, *The Times Political Book of the Year*

About Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart lived in the Eden Valley of Cumbria for ten years, serving as the Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border – the largest and most sparsely populated constituency in England – much of which he explored on foot. Half Scottish and half English, he spent his childhood between Britain, Malaysia and Hong Kong. After a very brief period in the British Army, he served as a British diplomat in Indonesia, the Balkans and Iraq, establishing and running a charity in Afghanistan, and holding a chair at Harvard University. He has also been a UK environment minister, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State for Justice and Secretary of State for International Development. His 21-month 6,000-mile walk across Asia, including Afghanistan, is recorded in his New York Times bestseller The Places in Between. His other books include Occupational Hazards, The Marches, and Politics on the Edge, which was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. Stewart is now the Brady-Johnson Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University's Jackson School of Global Affairs, and the co-host, with Alastair Campbell, of the UK's leading podcast The Rest Is Politics.
Details
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • ISBN: 9781529901139
  • Length: 981 minutes
  • Price: £16.00
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