PENGUIN ORANGE SPINES : FIRST CONFESSION PB – CHRIS PATTEN

"Most politicians write autobiographies to set the record straight . This is a different sort of memoir. Following his life as a self-confessed wet European from parliament to Hong Kong and beyond, Chris Patten creates a meditation on personal and political identity which, in an age of simplification, shows the complexities of both. A defence of liberal conservatism … If old-style centrism is to stage a comeback and reason to supplant stridency and authoritarianism, be it in west or east, the moderates can wave Patten s book on their way to their barricades Jonathan Fenby, Financial Times Vivid, very well-written, First Confession joins the highest tier of recent works by British politicians Paschal Donohoe, Irish Times Draws on his experience of four controversial institutions – the Tory party, the Vatican, the Chinese government and the BBC – to swell the tiny list of intelligent and cultured memoirs by front-line politicians Mark Lawson, New Statesman, Books of the Year"