The Blair administration's pursuit of a lasting settlement in Northern Ireland stands out as one of the great achievements in modern British politics. Even after the initial moves towards a peace, there was every chance that long-nursed grievances would break out again into paramilitary extremism. That they did not is a lasting monument to the determination and guile of many of those involved. As the government's key negotiator, Jonathan Powell is uniquely qualified to give the definitive account of the end of the Troubles. "Great Hatred, Little Room: Making Peace in Northern Ireland" will become a landmark in the literature of conflict resolution: an historical document of lasting importance that is also a vivid and dramatic account of fallible men and women working at the limits of their endurance.

Author Biography

After studying history at Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania, Jonathan Powell worked for the BBC and Granada TV before joining the Foreign Office in 1979. In 1994 Mr Blair, then Leader of the Opposition, poached him to join his 'kitchen cabinet' as his Chief of Staff. When Labour achieved its landslide victory in 1997 Powell was at the heart of the Downing Street machine.