This Boy

the best memoir by a politician you will ever read – Philip Collins * The Times *
a poignant memoir…Johnson writes wonderfully – Mary Kenny * Telegraph *
deeply moving and unforgettable – Lynn Barber * Sunday Times *
a handsome and eloquent tribute – Peter Wilby * Guardian *
beautifully, beautifully written… his style is utterly simple, with a wit so understated that every reader will believe that he or she alone got it – John Rentoul * Independent on Sunday *
Neither mawkish nor sentimental, it is an evocative, filmic account on an early childhood… would make a fabulous drama that, for all its squalor, lifts the spirits – Judith Woods * Daily Telegraph *
a testament to the power of family love and a tribute to two strong women – Ian Birrell * Daily Mail *
Wonderful and moving… unreadable with a dry eye * The Times *
the biography of a politician like no other - beautifully observed, humorous, moving, uplifting; told with a dry self-deprecating wit and not a trace of self-pity – Chris Mullin * Observer *
No ordinary politician’s memoir … wonderful. – John Grimond * The Spectator *

Alan Johnson was born in May 1950. He is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. Johnson was the Member of Parliament for Hull West and Hessle until his retirement from politics in 2017. His first book, This Boy, won the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Orwell Prize in 2013. His second, Please Mister Postman, won the National Book Award for Autobiography of the Year in 2014. His third, The Long and Winding Road, was published in 2016 and won the Parliamentary Book Award for Best Memoir.

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