[[Category:Politics and Society|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Politics and Society]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
{{newreview
|author=Tom Bower
|title=Broken Vows: Tony Blair The Tragedy of Power
|rating=4
|genre=Biography
|summary=In May 1997 we went to vote gleefully, sure that there was going to be a change from the tired, sleaze-ridden Conservative government we'd been suffering. The Blairs' entry into Downing Street the following day - through crowds of well-wishers - was like a breath of fresh air and (perhaps fortunately) it would be years before I discovered that the 'well wishers' had been bussed in for the event. Looking back now it seems that our hopes for what the 'New Labour' government could achieve were unreasonably high and there's a special place in hell reserved for those who disappoint us in this way. I've often wondered quite how history will see Blair: Afghanistan and Iraq as well as his failure to deal with Gordon Brown would always sour his premiership for me, but to what extent could his achievements such as the Good Friday Agreement, the minimum wage and higher welfare payments be balanced against his failures?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571314201</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Peter Popham
|summary=It must be rare indeed that a British political figure who never became Prime Minister is the subject of or deserves a biography comprising 750 pages of text. However, as John Campbell demonstrates in this volume, it is difficult to do justice to the life, times and career of Roy Jenkins in much less than that.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224087509</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Dan Jones
|title=Magna Carta: The Making and Legacy of the Great Charter
|rating=5
|genre=History
|summary=For what do we – and by courtesy of a lengthy timeline in history, would the Americans likewise – most likely owe thanks to a spigurnel? What is the most revered legal document in history, which sets out the rights of man – but also has time to talk about widows' rights, fish traps, and to be both sexist and to discuss the importance to people's estates to debts owed Jewish moneylenders? What will probably be the only notable historical experience of Britain in 1215, when we finally get diverted from thinking about WWI and discuss the 800 years of something else, even though the authority of no less than the Pope declared it null and void within ten weeks of its being finished?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781858853</amazonuk>
}}