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Blair's Hundred Days by Derek Draper 224pp, Faber, pounds 7.99 Safety First: The Making of New Labour by Paul Anderson and Nyta Mann 456pp, Granta, pounds 9.99
To publish in September a book which deals with August's events is an achievement in itself. But in the case of Derek Draper's Blair's Hundred Days, it is more a tribute to the technical efficiency of the printers than to the author's ability to write about contemporary events in a way which is distinguishable from overnight journalism.
The later chapters combine the repetition of newspaper reports (`Today, McMaster's suicide note is published. It is addressed to Tony Blair and Chief Whip Nick Brown . . . ') and banal comments (`It is difficult to maintain high standards of conduct in every local fiefdom'). The narrative passages are invariably written in the present tense. No doubt Draper hoped to create the impression of urgency. All the strange technique achieves is confirmation that the book has been put together with more concern for speed than quality.
The early chapters were clearly written with the conscious intention of combining enough `insider...