Robin Harris began to work for the Conservative Party in 1978, becoming Director of the Conservative Research Department, a government political adviser and a member of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Policy Unit. When Mrs Thatcher left Downing Street, so did he, going on to assist her with books and speeches. In recent years, he has written an authoritative history of the city state of Dubrovnik and an acclaimed biography of the French statesman Talleyrand. He is the author of Not For Turning, the Sunday Times bestselling biography of Margaret Thatcher. He lives in London.
Astute, opinionated and unsentimental, Harris makes a robust and entertaining guide to the party's history. The Sunday Times 20111113 Robin Harris combines a career of working for the party with the qualifications of a historian. He also writes beautifully, with a perilous sharpness. His account is highly entertaining. The Daily Telegraph 20111114 A marvel of concision, lucidity and scholarship, with penetrating things to say about Peel, Disraeli, Churchill and the rest. His book can be read for pleasure as well as instruction. The Spectator 20111112 Highly readable, with sparkling portraits of the leading figures, and the author's acerbic observations and pithy judgments, even when one does not agree with them, are always thought-provoking and sometimes pointed enough to make one laugh out loud...this is a good book. I am glad that it was written. And I'm glad that I read it. The Times 20111121 My expectations for this book were high; but Dr. Harris has exceeded them. This book is genuine history written with real authority...finely written and highly readable, with an undercurrent of dry wit running through its narrative. Conservative Home website