This is the novel that both the British and American TV series was based on. Dobbs worked for years in British politics, advising Mrs. Thatcher and many other leading British politicians. I assume this is his 'kiss and tell' novel, as he seems to have been peremptorily dismissed, took time off, and wrote this novel. It follow a few months in the life of Party Whip Francis Urquhart, an unscrupulous, power hungry, Machiavelli, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, the Prime Minister's seat. Lying, cheating, blackmailing, even murder are tools he uses in this novel to rise to power. The counter point to Urquhart is a young, innocent reporter, Mattie Storin, who bulldog like, refuses to be told 'no', by her editor, by the powers that be, as she unravels the real truth about Urquhart's unsettling yet realistic rise. Politicians are not very like able in this book, in either TV versions and it would make anyone wonder why people go in to politics. Is it a flaw in their character, the need to be someone important, to seek power, to be ambitious, and to do almost anything, even Urquhart's case, murder to get what one likes. The book was somewhat ruined by the fact that I had watched the series on TV though I was not sure how it would end. I would have liked it more if Urquhart had succeeded, become Prime Minister, rather than halted, morality play like, by Mattie Storin and her story. We do get a picture of British politics, so different from that here in the States, but the actors, their flaws and ambitions, are the same, whether in Great Britain, the United States, or India...the rich and powerful control all, the rest of us suck hind teat, to be profane.
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