FIGHTING TALK: THE BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN PRESCOTT. [Subject's SIGNED bookplate.]

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,subject's SIGNED bookplate,1st edn. NFINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn but subject's black ink SIGNED,pasted-in bookplate: 'Best Wishes John Prescott' to title page and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean, glossy laminated,with subject's monochrome portrait photographic illustrated panels of dw/dj,with white lettering to upper panel; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges aged/toned with some minimal dust-soiling spotting to top edges and some grubbing/ thumbing to fore-edges; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and clean plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,viiipp+2-344pp [paginated] includes contents list/table,author's introduction,Pts 1+2 comprising 15 and 9 chapters respectively,16pp contemporary b/w autobiographical photographs in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp88/9 and pp248/49 respectively,notes,a bibliography and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title page,subject SIGNED bookplate to title page,and dedication page with picture credits to it's reverse.
John Prescott is a fighter.He is notorious for his outspokenness.
Nicknamed 'Thumper' and 'Rambo',his aura of raw honesty,thumping beliefs and bruising delivery can often reach where Tony Blair cannot.He is the rough diamond of the party,as well as its unlikeliest sex symbol,about whom poet Fleur Adcock penned passionate poems.
Prescott has been patronised by the chattering classes, side-lined by spin doctors,and mocked by Tory ministers. He is said to have a chip on both shoulders.And yet,those who know him well say he is misunderstood and under-rated,that he is an ideas man.His complimentary relationship with Blair is crucial to Labour's success and Blair's continuing efforts to modernise the Labour party.
So who is the real Prescott? He is seen as a champion of the traditional Labour,the trade unions,the left wing,the working-class.Yet his upbringing in Chester,after a childhood in working-class Wales and South Yorkshire was relatively middle-class and his career was shaped when,as a ship's steward,he served the rich and famous on-board Cunard liners.He was fighting for trade union ballots when Blair was still at school and he had spent half a decade in politics before entered Parliament.Yet he is known to be fully behind Blair's leadership and has no personal ambitions to be Prime Minister.
Colin Brown pulls no punches in this fascinating and entertaining biography.He has been granted exclusive access to Prescott's private documents,files and photographs and exclusive interviews with those close to Prescott.With the full co-operation of his family and his fiercely loyal friends,he has been able to marry many of the contradictions between the public persona and the private man.
'Fighting Talk' documents,for the first time, Prescott's rise to power and the contribution he has made to Blair's modernised Labour Party.It explores the inevitable tensions that lie behind two very different driving forces at the top and what this could mean for a Labour government. Anecdotal,insightful and brilliantly lucid 'Fighting Talk' is a riveting account of an enigmatic man and a powerfully effective politician.
Colin Brown is the chief Political Correspondent for the 'Independent' which he joined at its launch in 1986.He became a lobby journalist with the 'Yorkshire Post' before moving to the 'Guardian'.He has reported on Westminster since 1978.
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