My Life, Our Times, Gordon Brown
My Life, Our Times, Gordon Brown
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My Life, Our Times

Author: Gordon Brown

Narrator: Gordon Kennedy

Unabridged: 19 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/07/2017


Synopsis

Random House presents the audiobook edition of My Life, Our Times by Gordon Brown, read by Gordon Kennedy.

As former Prime Minister and our longest-serving Chancellor, Gordon Brown has been a guiding force for Britain and the world over three decades. This is his candid, poignant and deeply relevant story.

In describing his upbringing in Scotland as the son of a minister, the near loss of his eyesight as a student and the death of his daughter within days of her birth, he shares the passionately held principles that have shaped and driven him, reminding us that politics can and should be a calling to serve. Reflecting on the personal and ideological tensions within Labour and its achievements – the minimum wage, tax credits, Bank of England independence and the refinancing of the National Health Service – he describes how to meet the challenge of pursuing a radical agenda within a credible party of government.
He explains how as Chancellor he equipped Britain for a globalised economy while swimming against the neoliberal tide and shows what more must be done to halt rising inequality. In his behind-the-scenes account of the financial crisis and his leading role in saving the world economy from collapse, he addresses the question of who was to blame for the crash and why its causes and consequences still beset us.

From the invasion of Iraq to the tragedy of Afghanistan, from the coalition negotiations of 2010 to the referendums on Scottish independence and Europe, Gordon Brown draws on his unique experiences to explain Britain’s current fractured condition. And by showing us what progressive politics has achieved in recent decades, he inspires us with a vision of what it might yet achieve today.

Riveting, expert and highly personal, this historic memoir is an invaluable insight into our times.

About Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown was Chancellor of the Exchequer, a role he held for more than a decade, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He is credited with preventing a second Great Depression through his leadership at the 2009 London G20 summit where he mobilised global leaders to walk the world back from the financial brink. Today he is fully engaged in international development work serving as the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, spearheading efforts to deliver a quality and inclusive education for all of the world's children, and as the World Health Organization's Ambassador for Global Health Finance. Brown has a PhD in History from the University of Edinburgh. A Member of Parliament between 1983 and 2015, he lives in Fife, Scotland, and is married to Sarah, and the couple have two teenagers.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean on December 25, 2017

I found this book most interesting. The section of the book about his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Tony Blair was the best part of the book. He was the longest serving Chancellor and managed to accomplish many reforms besides saving the UK in the 2008 recession and global financial cris......more

Goodreads review by Harry on November 12, 2017

Not as appalling as the ghastly man revealed in the recent autobiography of UK politician Kenneth Clarke. The Gordon Brown story is interesting. He an ex UK Prime Minister and before that Chancellor of the Exchequer, for non Brits that quaint term means,'in charge fiscal policy and budgeting'. Actual......more

Goodreads review by David on February 13, 2018

Wow, I had to push myself to finish this. Supposedly an autobiography, great swathes of this book are a political lecture supported by a torrent of statistics. Quite sour and bitter, even a little vindictive in parts, the book is relentlessly party political and partisan, self-promoting and self jus......more

Goodreads review by Philip on January 07, 2025

Gordon Brown’s My Life, Our Times sounds like it is going to be more of a biography than a political memoir. In fact, it is mainly a memoir of his life in politics, though it is by no means of blow-by-blow account of diary entries, cobbled together immediately upon leaving office. Indeed, this work......more

Goodreads review by Jacob on November 08, 2022

I think this book really sums up Gordon Brown as a decent man who dedicated his life to public service, and even now continues to make the world a better place. We get an insight into Brown’s time as Chancellor and PM, and he speaks passionately about the injustices which he tried to tackle when in......more


Quotes

Miles ahead of anyone you can name currently in office at Westminster. Brown thinks, and thinks profoundly. And by and large, over the last 30 years, what he has thought has turned out to be correct … thrilling … unexpectedly moving Guardian

A protagonist of Shakespearian stature … The chapters on the crash are fast, tense and riveting … Like our times, Brown’s life is complicated, contradictory, full of irritations, frustrations and even rage. But as this absorbing memoir makes clear, he is also a man who, in both his willingness and ability to tackle the most pressing questions of our age, towers over those who currently fill the political stage … He is one of the giants of our recent political history – and this book explains why Prospect

A compelling story, well told … This is an important book that goes far to explain what made this enigmatic, solitary and intensely private man tick … an example of that rare species in Britain: the intellectual in politics … this book reminds us what a moderate politics of the left looks like and how much it can achieve Sunday Times

Very good at describing the process by which an idea for reform is germinated, then shaped into a policy before being executed … He writes very movingly about the death of baby Jennifer Jane … You feel great sympathy and admiration for his tenacity … one of the most formidable chancellors that Britain has ever seen Observer

In this fascinating book, Gordon Brown shares the experience and perspective of a lifetime spent in public service. Readers will come away with not just a deeper understanding of British and international politics but also the intellect and integrity of one of today’s great statesmen

Gordon Brown is a fiercely passionate Scot who is honest, straightforward and trustworthy. He was a consummate politician, and this is a must-read autobiography

I have always believed Gordon Brown to be a decent person who wanted the best for every person in our society regardless of their start in life. This fascinating book demonstrates his measured thinking, intelligence and humanity, which is what I look for in a prime minister

After hearing Gordon Brown as Prime Minister speaking to a large international audience on eradicating poverty, a colleague from overseas said to me, ‘I wish we had politicians like that in our country.’ Just at the moment, so do I. This book will show something of the heart and the intelligence of a remarkable, compassionate and dedicated man

A momentous political career … he was undoubtedly the right person, at the right time, to deal with the financial crash of 2008 .. surprisingly generous towards those with whom he clashed repeatedly during his time in politics … when he was good, he was very good indeed Financial Times

Brown will be remembered for the historic calls which he got right. Independence for the Bank of England, holding out against the euro and leading the global response to a frightening banking collapse. Who, among politicians of recent vintage, can make claim to a posterity as good as that? The Times