No Prime Minister in modern times has led Britain into as many wars as Tony Blair. In seven years in office he has committed soldiers to action in Kosovo, in Operation Desert Fox against Iraq, in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan -- and, most controversially, in the final battle with Saddam Hussein in 2003. It has been a dramatic course of action for a man who, until he won the 1997 General Election, showed only a rudimentary understanding of the workings of foreign policy. Combining page-turning narrative and revelation with an analysis of the philosophy underlying his adventures abroad, BLAIR'S WARS shows how this government has sought to be at the forefront of a new and turbulent world order. Putting the reader into the 'smoke-filled rooms' of Whitehall and Washington where the real decision-making takes place, John Kampfner draws on his unparalleled contacts within and outside government to provide a compelling account of the tensions, rivalries, deal-making and back-stabbing that have accompanied inexorable acquisition of foreign-policy control.
