Tony Blair

Tony Blair nos presenta en A Journey, su autobiografía política centrada en los 10 años en los que fue primer ministro británico. Tony Blair nos cuenta en sus memorias su relación con José María Aznar, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Javier Solana, George Bush o Gordon Brown. Autobiografía sólo disponible en inglés.Tony Blair is the politician who defines our times. His emergence as Labour leader in 1994 marked a seismic shift in British politics. Within a few short years, he had transformed his party and rallied the country behind him, becoming prime minister in 1997 with the biggest victory in Labour's history, and bringing to an end eighteen years of Conservative government. He took Labour to a historic three terms in office, as the dominant political figure of the last two decades. A Journey is Tony Blair's first-hand account of his years in office and beyond. Here he describes for the first time his role in shaping our recent history, from the aftermath of Princess Diana's death to the war on terror. He reveals the leadership decisions that were necessary to reinvent his party, the relationships with colleagues such as Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson, the gruelling negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland, the battles over education and health, the implementation of the biggest reforms to public services since 1945, and his relationships with leaders on the world stage, from Mandela and Clinton to Putin and Bush. He analyses the belief in ethical intervention that led to his decisions to go to war, in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan and, most controversially of all, in Iraq. A Journey is a book about the nature and uses of political power. In frank, unflinching, often wry detail, Tony Blair charts the ups and downs of his career to provide insight into the man, as well as the politician and statesman. He explores the challenges of leadership, and explains why he took on public opinion to stand up for what he believed in. He also looks forwards, to emerging power relationships and economies, and to Britain's changing role, addressing the vital issues and complexities of our global world. Few British prime ministers have shaped the nation's course as profoundly as Tony Blair, and his achievements and his legacy will be debated for years to come. Amid the millions of words written about him, this book is unique: his own journey, in his own words.

«¿Cómo afrontaremos el problema de los recursos que escasean? ¿Quién dará voz a los pobres, a los desheredados, a los prófugos, a los emigrantes? ¿Cómo podremos hacer crecer la comprensión en lugar de la ignorancia y la tolerancia en lugar del miedo? En este ámbito debe entrar en juego el mundo de la fe y naturalmente la Iglesia católica, la Iglesia universal, modelo ella misma de institución global. Los líderes políticos, os lo digo con toda franqueza, no pueden hacerlo ellos solos». Educado en colegios de Edimburgo, abogado sindical tras haber estudiado Derecho en Oxford, Anthony Charles Lynton Blair entró en el Partido Laborista en 1983. Después de unos años siendo portavoz sobre asuntos de Derecho y Economía, Tony Blair se convirtió en el líder más joven del laborismo con cuarenta y un años. Ganó por mayoría las elecciones británicas en 1997, logro que repetiría durante dos mandatos más hasta 2007, año en el que definitivamente abandonó la política. Convertido al catolicismo, funda en 2008 la Tony Blair Faith Foundation (www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org). El presente libro recoge una reciente intervención en el Meeting de Rímini en la que aborda cuestiones de calado personal, social, religioso y político.

«El 2 de mayo de 1997, entré por primera vez en Downing Street como primer ministro. Nunca había ocupado un cargo, ni siquiera como el más inexperto de los altos cargos ministeriales. Era mi primer y