Pretty Straight Guys

by Nick Cohen

In Pretty Straight Guys Nick Cohen, one of the most exciting journalists of his generation, explores the feeling of angry impotence which has swept modern Britain during the Labour administration. Shifting focus away from Westminster and into other territories of New Labour influence, from America to India and based on original research and interviews - this book combines contemporary history with satire and polemic. With the hope that a well-written argument and a love of storytelling can make the reader see the world afresh.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Nick Cohen is a British journalist, author, and political commentator. He is currently a columnist for The Observer, a blogger for The Spectator and TV critic for Standpoint magazine. He formerly wrote for the London Evening Standard and the New Statesman. Cohen has written four books: Cruel Britannia: Reports on the Sinister and the Preposterous (1999), a collection of his journalism; Pretty Straight Guys (2003), a highly critical account of the New Labour project; What's Left? (2007), which he describes as the story of how the liberal left of the 20th century came to support the far right of the 21st; and Waiting for the Etonians: Reports from the Sickbed of Liberal England (2009). The Orwell Prize for political writing shortlisted What's Left? in 2008.

Reviews

[Mark Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Cohen's savage analysis of the rise and fall of New Labour is insightful, shameful, and downright depressing. As a cynical news junkie I'm familiar with the headlines and characters, but not always the real story behind them.

A fly-on-the-wall portrayal of the series of u-turns, spins and gimmicky ploys that took Labour from the wilderness into government was never going to reflect well on the politicians, media or the public, and this lives up (down?) to expectations. From the deals that funded the dome, to what was given in return (remember the Hinduja brothers, the Faith Zone and their passports?) to Labour out-Torying the Tories on law and order and immigration, this is a depressing expose of the grubby world of politics, packed with the gory details.

But it is on Iraq, and the left's failure to support the overthrow of a fascist dictator that Cohen focuses much (too much?) of his efforts, and most of his venom, returning to this theme time and time again. Yet, written in 2003, I can't help but wonder if he would have written this had he known the same arguments, battles and blood would still be flowing 10 years later. Indeed, he criticises the left for their "failure of imagination" to see what Iraq could become, whereas this merely highlights his failure of imagination to see why the left was so concerned about this course of action in the first place.

Notwithstanding the sections on Iraq, his analysis of economic bubbles is very prescient of the crashes to follow, and all in all this is a fascinating insight into what went on, and why, and what should be learned from it. Ten years on, sadly, it appears that we haven't.

[Yolanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why didn't Blair boot some of the 'agitators' out of the Labour Partyyyyyyy?! Sorry. A fantastic book to read, analysing the inner workings of New Labour as was - occasionally very funny.

[Marion Husband · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, fascinating, made me think