Blair & Iraq: Why Tony Blair Went to War: An Investigation
The Prime Minister Series
by Steve Richards
Why You'll Love This
The real answer to why Blair went to war has less to do with Bush or WMDs — and everything to do with who Blair was long before 9/11.
- Great if you want: a psychological lens on political decision-making at its most consequential
- The experience: dense but brief — a sharp, concentrated read demanding close attention
- The writing: Richards traces character and ideology with an insider's precision, not tabloid hindsight
- Skip if: you want a detailed chronological account of the Iraq War itself
About This Book
Few political decisions in modern British history have cast as long a shadow as Tony Blair's choice to join the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Steve Richards argues that to understand that fateful decision, you have to go back further than the dossiers and the debates — back to Blair's political formation in the wilderness years of the 1980s Labour Party. This concise but probing investigation reframes the Iraq question entirely, suggesting Blair didn't abandon his instincts for consensus and coalition but was instead following them into a trap with consequences he couldn't foresee or escape.
What makes this such a rewarding read is Richards's ability to compress decades of political psychology into compact, vivid analysis without sacrificing nuance. As a journalist who covered Blair at close range, he writes with the authority of an insider and the discipline of someone who has spent years distilling complexity for general audiences. The Shakespearean framing — Blair ensnared by his own defining characteristics rather than by simple deception or ideology — gives the book an intellectual sharpness that lifts it well above the standard political post-mortem.