The Ashdown Diaries: Volume 1:1988-1997: v. 1 - Tapa blanda

In 1988 when Paddy Ashdown became leader of the Social and Liberal Democratic Party, he began to keep a diary. The party was virtually bankrupt, morale almost extinguished. By May 2 1997, the Liberal Democrats under his leadership had been brought to their strongest postion in two generations, and were on brink of reshaping the centre ground of British politics. The revival of his party is as major theme in a book that draws the reader day by day into the immediate political past, from the intense pressures of the 1992 election to Europe's failure in the Balkans, from the cease-fire in Northern Ireland to John Major's fianl, crushing nemesis.

Before he began his political career, Paddy Ashdown served in the Royal Marine Commandos and the Special Boat Service (SBS) and afterwards as a member of the Diplomatic Service. In 1983 he became MP for Yeovil, and in 1988 won the leadership election for the new Social and Liberal Democrats. In the May 1997 election he led the Liberal Democrats to their greatest electoral achievement since 1929. He stood down as the party's leader in 1999.