Editor by Max Hastings

Having read Max Hastings's military history books, I decided to try his autobiographical "Editor: An inside story of Newspapers", which describes the decade he spent as editor of the Daily Telegraph. A the very least this book provides a small insight into what it is to be the editor of a daily newspaper. It also gives a (very) informed man's view of the last Tory government. Hastings was hired to reform the Telegraph, to get it profitable again. One forgets that newspapers used to be printed in black and white only; the Telegraph went to colour under his direction. One of the passages in the book revealed a lot about politicians:

Politicians who achieve office, of all parties, divide into three categories. A small minority ... decide upon an agenda and pursue it with purpose and energy. There is a second group. ... Such men are adept at clinging to office for long periods, and make not trouble for Prime Ministers. The third and largest group of ministers in any government spends its entire time in office in a state of fear: fear of the Prime Minister, of the electorate, the Daily Mail, TV news, unexpected events

His attitude to the 'red top' press is, more or less, that they are beyond contempt. I'd recommend this book to anybody interested in Tory history, newspapers, journalism and British politics.