Reflections : Conversations with Politicians

The historian, wrote E. L. Doctorow, will tell you what happened.

The novelist will tell you what it felt like. This book sees Peter Hennessy and Robert Shepard combine both approaches with the art of the interviewer, a craft at once sensitive and probing. "Reflections "collects transcripts of the best interviews from the BBC Radio 4 series "Reflections with Peter Hennessy," a show on which the British political elite have spoken candidly about their careers and the moments that came to define their political lives.

Supplementing the interviews are short biographies and profiles of the interviewees, allowing readers a fuller picture of each speaker s background and professional trajectory. This revealing book includes conversations with political heavyweights such as former prime minister John Major; former foreign secretaries Margaret Beckett, David Owen, and Jack Straw; Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock; Liberal Party leader David Steel; and chancellor of exchequer Nigel Lawson. In addition, "Reflections