THIRTY DAYS

In the days leading up to the recent Gulf War, Stothard was granted access to the besieged world of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The result is in-depth political journalism with a touch of Upstairs Downstairs. Stothard, editor of the Times Literary Supplement and former editor of the Times of London, draws a critical but sympathetic portrait of Blair as a politician who is willing to risk his historical legacy in order to do what he believes to be the right thing: stick by President Bush and the unpopular (in Europe) attack on Iraq. It may come as a surprise to many American readers how close Stothard believes Blair was to losing his grip on power. They might also be surprised how close Blair, a political cousin of Bill Clinton, felt ideologically to Bush-and that the two shared a religious conviction to attack Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein. Blair, he writes, "has the powerful Christian seriousness of the not-quite-yet convert." Although the book is full of Briticisms-some members of Parliament are "runners," others "wobblers"-Stothard expertly shapes a narrative in which Blair manages to stick by his principles in the face of intense pressure, although he is now facing trouble regarding what he told the British public during those prewar days. At times, the book focuses on Blair's advisers and others who serve the prime minister at the expense of Blair himself, but Stothard offers scrutiny of one of the world's most important leaders during a critical juncture in his-and the world's-history.