September 2000

One of the many things that makes Mo Mowlam unusual as a politician - and probably one of the most remarkable - is her public popularity. Soon after the election of the Labour Government in the United Kingdom in 1997, it seemed obvious that she was one of its success stories.

It was her personality that helped move the peace process in Northern Ireland towards the Good Friday Agreement. She showed that she was tireless and she proved that she was brave. Nobody could doubt the political courage of a woman who had been diagnosed with a brain tumour four months before she took office in the Cabinet.

But can popularity actually be a handicap? Is Mo Mowlam a victim of the destructive rivalries that are rife in modern politics?

Many questions are answered in this book - and they are not all about politics. This is the enigmatic story of a women who is everybody elses's friend, but is one of the most private people who confides in nobody. It is about a driven personality, about the daughter of an alcoholic who has been determined all her life to help others because the experience of her own childhood. It is about what makes - and breaks - a good politician.

In this biography the political journalist-author traces the life story of Mo Mowlam, through her family, her friends, and her professional colleagues - in both her academic career and in politics. The book also looks in detail at what is arguably Mo Mowlam's greatest political achievement: the Good Friday Agreement.