From Bevan to Blair: Fifty Years Reporting from the Political Front Line

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From Bevan to Blair: Fifty Years Reporting from the Political Front Line

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For more than half a century Geoffrey Goodman was one of Fleet Street's foremost political and industrial reporters. This book is his record of what it was like to work at the heart of British politics. Taking us through the years that followed the end of World War II right up to the beginning of the 21st century, he offers stories of the characters and events that shaped British political history. Goodman's unique portraits include many of the political giants of the 20th century. As a close friend of the great socialist Aneurin Bevan, he is able to reveal the philosophy and drive of the man who could have been Premier. Goodman also offers a behind-the-scenes account of Labour Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, whom he worked with, and brings to light new reasons why Wilson suspected the security agencies of trying to destabilize his government. Other portraits include Michael Foot, Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath, Willie Whitelaw, Margaret Thatcher, Rupert Murdoch and Hugh Cudlipp. Then there is the still untold story of the life and bizarre death of Goodman's former boss Robert Maxwell - was he murdered? Goodman provides answers. As Assistant Editor and Columnist at the "Daily Mirror" for 18 years, and with a lifetime of reporting for newspapers including the "Manchester Guardian", "News Chronicle" and "Daily Herald", Geoffrey Goodman's observations bring to life a Fleet Street that has now disappeared and a political period which has shaped all our current experiences. This book should be of interest to anyone who wants an insider's account of great characters in British political history, and in particular to the evolution of the Labour party over the course of the 20th century.