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Kill the Messenger
. SIGNED AUTHOR on Pollitical Book of the month bookplate, with unclipped dustjacket, bright clean copy, no markings, Professional booksellers since 1981
- GenresBritish Literature
Paperback
Published November 21, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 3, 2019
Bernard Inghan's autobiography is certainly something of a niche work in the pantheon of Thatcherite memoirs, but no less valuable for that. Perhaps uniquely amongst pieces from the time, the focus is less on the rightness or wrongness of the message (although, from Ingham's perspective, it's mostly the right message) as to how the message was, or should have been delivered, and it's as much a critique and examination of the press as it is Thatcher's premiership or Cabinet.
There is certainly a lot here which is interesting, and Ingham writes from a pleasantly refreshing perspective, both as someone who trained in journalism and spent most of their time in the Civil Service. His style is blunt and to the point, although occasionally obsessing on the minutiae of inter-departmental issues which could be clearer, and the idiosyncratic style is accompanied with some excellently regaled anecdotes and takes on some of the characters who made up the media and political landscape of the 1970s and 1980s.
In terms of the content, there's certainly a lot to enjoy. The perspective of selling the policy (rather than coming up with it) is quite fascinating, and at the same time it's nice to get an account of certain events without the author having to justify their decisions and opinions on it at very turn, which is often the slight disadvantage of reading political autobiographies, especially from this period. Equally, the earlier parts of the work which show life as a journalist in post-war Yorkshire, and later as a civil servant in the Wilson and Heath years, are genuinely interesting and engaging for anyone with even a passing interest in either fields, or indeed anyone who likes a good anecdote.
That being said, Kill the Messenger is likely to have more than a few detractors, and not entirely without justification. The most obvious of these is that Ingham is, perhaps unsurprisingly, pretty pro-Thatcher, and while he's not unwilling to criticise her and justifies his support quite well, this may likely turn some readers off immediately. At the same time, while willing to admit his mistakes, at the same time Ingham very much sells his particular view of things, including how the media should act, and while it's well justified and argued, it doesn't leave a lot of room or time for those with whom he disagrees.
At the same time, it's a document which really focuses in only on those aspects which directly affected Ingham - it's not really an account of the Thatcherite period as it is an examination of the media relationships which defined it, and Ingham tends to keep his focus pretty close throughout. As such, if you're not particularly interested in the details of his early work on selling energy conservation, or the minutiae of lobby correspondence, then much of this may leave you a bit cold.
Nevertheless, I certainly enjoyed reading Kill the Messenger. It's an excellent historical document with a lot to say both about the Thatcher era and indeed about the media, journalism and the civil service, and it's written with an acerbic wit and more heart than perhaps the scowling countenance of the author's picture on the cover would imply. Worth a look at the very least!
There is certainly a lot here which is interesting, and Ingham writes from a pleasantly refreshing perspective, both as someone who trained in journalism and spent most of their time in the Civil Service. His style is blunt and to the point, although occasionally obsessing on the minutiae of inter-departmental issues which could be clearer, and the idiosyncratic style is accompanied with some excellently regaled anecdotes and takes on some of the characters who made up the media and political landscape of the 1970s and 1980s.
In terms of the content, there's certainly a lot to enjoy. The perspective of selling the policy (rather than coming up with it) is quite fascinating, and at the same time it's nice to get an account of certain events without the author having to justify their decisions and opinions on it at very turn, which is often the slight disadvantage of reading political autobiographies, especially from this period. Equally, the earlier parts of the work which show life as a journalist in post-war Yorkshire, and later as a civil servant in the Wilson and Heath years, are genuinely interesting and engaging for anyone with even a passing interest in either fields, or indeed anyone who likes a good anecdote.
That being said, Kill the Messenger is likely to have more than a few detractors, and not entirely without justification. The most obvious of these is that Ingham is, perhaps unsurprisingly, pretty pro-Thatcher, and while he's not unwilling to criticise her and justifies his support quite well, this may likely turn some readers off immediately. At the same time, while willing to admit his mistakes, at the same time Ingham very much sells his particular view of things, including how the media should act, and while it's well justified and argued, it doesn't leave a lot of room or time for those with whom he disagrees.
At the same time, it's a document which really focuses in only on those aspects which directly affected Ingham - it's not really an account of the Thatcherite period as it is an examination of the media relationships which defined it, and Ingham tends to keep his focus pretty close throughout. As such, if you're not particularly interested in the details of his early work on selling energy conservation, or the minutiae of lobby correspondence, then much of this may leave you a bit cold.
Nevertheless, I certainly enjoyed reading Kill the Messenger. It's an excellent historical document with a lot to say both about the Thatcher era and indeed about the media, journalism and the civil service, and it's written with an acerbic wit and more heart than perhaps the scowling countenance of the author's picture on the cover would imply. Worth a look at the very least!
August 18, 2015
So dusty is this tome by Maggie's loyal 'lefty' press secretary that I can't even find a cover pic on the net. It's not in anyway 'controversial' as its cover suggests (more fool me for believing that spin), and the most exciting exposes contained within are the diary summaries of an average week in the PM's life (seriously). A smidgen of anecdotal colour is added to the domineering dame's palid cheeks, but it takes over half the book to even get to those moments. The bio sections on Inghams bluff upbringing in Bronte Country and early days in local and national press have a certain picture-frame charm, but even they are fairly stolidly written.
Perhaps its strongest selling point is his description of the closed 'lobby' system for communicating with the press (he got on well with a young cove called Alistair Campbell incidentally ;)), and his rationales concerning it. Almost every other aspect of civil service life he touches upon are, although not without some insider interest, deathly dull.
He's also a fairly annoying companion. The political sections are mainly score settling with the press and the unions (oh lord the acronyms), and for someone so enamoured with his own Yorkshire down-to-earthness, he seems not to have noticed that referring to himself in the third person betrays a certain power-flushed vanity.
Still, maybe juuuuuust about worth the read for the insight into the paranoia and perfidy abounding in political realms, with many a slip betwixt ear and lip, and media circus, leaving them all spinning giddily round.
3--
Perhaps its strongest selling point is his description of the closed 'lobby' system for communicating with the press (he got on well with a young cove called Alistair Campbell incidentally ;)), and his rationales concerning it. Almost every other aspect of civil service life he touches upon are, although not without some insider interest, deathly dull.
He's also a fairly annoying companion. The political sections are mainly score settling with the press and the unions (oh lord the acronyms), and for someone so enamoured with his own Yorkshire down-to-earthness, he seems not to have noticed that referring to himself in the third person betrays a certain power-flushed vanity.
Still, maybe juuuuuust about worth the read for the insight into the paranoia and perfidy abounding in political realms, with many a slip betwixt ear and lip, and media circus, leaving them all spinning giddily round.
3--
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews