From Bevan to Blair

'All through these momentous years in Labour history, indeed British history, Geoffrey Goodman has had a special ringside seat ...We all knew he had the best story to tell, and here it is. It is a triumph of character as much as journalistic skill. Everyone who had the good luck to be friendly with Geoffrey and his family, soon discovered that he was never just serving himself. He truly honoured the highest ideals of the Labour movement he had chosen to serve.' Michael Foot 'What Geoffrey Goodman doesn't know about political journalism didn't happen. This fascinating book takes us through the pass door to the corridors of power.' Keith Waterhouse For more than half a century Geoffrey Goodman was one of Fleet Street's foremost political and industrial reporters. This book is his record of what it was like to work at the heart of British politics. Taking us through the years that followed the end of World War II right up to today, he offers a compelling story of the characters and events that shaped British political history. Goodman's unique portraits include many of the political giants of the twentieth century. As a close friend of the great socialist Aneurin Bevan, he is able to reveal the philosophy and drive of the man who could have been Premier. Goodman also offers a behind-the-scenes account of Labour Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, whom he worked with, and brings to light new reasons why Wilson suspected the security agencies of trying to destabilise his government. Other portraits include Michael Foot, Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath, Willie Whitelaw, Margaret Thatcher, Rupert Murdoch and Hugh Cudlipp. Then there is the still untold story of the life and bizarre death of Goodman's former boss Robert Maxwell -- was he murdered? Goodman provides convincing answers. Geoffrey Goodman has been a journalist all his working life. When he retired from the Daily Mirror he launched the British Journalism Review -- a quarterly magazine that has now an established reputation as one of the most authoritative of all media journals. This book brings to life a political period which has shaped all our current experiences. It will be of interest to anyone who wants an insider's account of great characters in British political history, and in particular to the evolution of the Labour party over the course of the twentieth century.