Best insider book on various political eras?

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For instance. The Clinton years. Is George Stephanopoulos's book the real deal? Is Lord McAlpine's the thing for the Thatcher era? I'm not interested in Clinton - My Story (fine though I'm sure it is) or that type of thing. I want the wheeling and dealing, the inside scoop, the gossip.

Any suggestions?

― Ned Trifle II, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:04 (nineteen years ago)

"One of Us" by the late Hugo Young is supposed to be a definitive account of Thatcher & the Thatcher years.

"Primary Colours" for a glossy, fictionalised and sympathetic look at Clinton, "The Triangulation of Bill Clinton" by the now-bonkers Christopher Hitchens for a less sympathetic account.

― Neil S, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:14 (nineteen years ago)

Wait in what sense are those last two "insider books?" (I don't know anything about the first one)

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:15 (nineteen years ago)

Sorry, I mean in what sense is the last one an insider book.

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail, '72?

― kingfish, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

I mean, wait, is Klein technically an "insider" or not?

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

I guess not "insider" per se, but Hitchens is a Beltway insider, if that counts.

― Neil S, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

Also, the Crossman diaries for serious insider look at Labour in the 50s and 60s, and Alan Clark's diaries for some funnies, if you can stomach his slightly-to-the-right-of-Genghis-Khan politics.

― Neil S, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:20 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, I've read some of the Clark diaries, and while they were amusing for a while it was all too much in the end. He was not nice (unless you were a furry animal).

― Ned Trifle II, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:23 (nineteen years ago)

i think stephanopoulos' book is the pick if any, but it's not a definitive account

― gabbneb, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:23 (nineteen years ago)

I really want to know what the first couple of years of the Blair years were like. Do I have to wait for Alistair Campbell?

Also, what about LBJ? There's enough Kennedy stuff to keep me happy but the LBJ (who I have to admit to finding more interesting what little I've read) shelf is virtually empty.

― Ned Trifle II, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 16:26 (nineteen years ago)

Try Robert Caro's multi-volume biography of LBJ (Means of Ascent, Path to Power, Master of the Senate) -- I think he's up to volume three and that doesn't even cover LBJ in the White House.

I'm going to get around to these. Someday.

― Bartleby, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 18:34 (nineteen years ago)

joe mcginnish - selling of the president 1968

that book lbj wrote about vietnam

― and what, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 18:46 (nineteen years ago)

mcginnis

― and what, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 18:46 (nineteen years ago)

there's tons of LBJ books - doris goodwin's "lyndon johnson and the american dream," merle miller's oral bio "lyndon," etc etc.

i just bought blumenthal's "the clinton wars," which looks long if nothing else.

― J.D., Wednesday, 16 May 2007 20:56 (nineteen years ago)

That's part of the problem with LBJ - there are tons of books, but I can;t see myself wading through a multi-volume tome. That Doris Goodwin book looks interesting though and I see she's done one on the Roosevelts too.

― Ned Trifle II, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 22:40 (nineteen years ago)

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