A devastating portrait of New Labour in power

Andrew Rawnsley takes up where he left off with Servants Of The People in 2000. He admires Blair and has a fine sense of his personality and operation. After 9/11, Blair was in his element and at the height of his powers. Yet Iraq, as close adviser Philip Gould comments, "bent Tony out of shape".

Only the Cabinet's fear of a Brown succession prevented revolt, thinks Rawnsley. Later, as war descended into insurgency, Blair grew depressed. But while he bounced back, New Labour never did. Central to this was the war with Brown. Forget Brown's bullying of staff: it is the portrait painted over time that is more damaging. His "perpetual anger" is a constant: he provokes even Tessa Jowell to shout back, "don't you ever f**king speak to me like that again!"

There were "absolutely stupendous rows" recalls a Cabinet minister, made worse by Blair's realisation that he had made a mistake in agreeing to step down. When Brown takes over, Rawnsley finds a man ill-prepared temperamentally for Downing Street.

He surrounded himself with a "depressive, introverted, dysfunctional coterie". Despite his decisiveness after the financial crisis of 2008, it is hard not to conclude from this account that Brown simply isn't up to the job. This is made more damaging by the range of sources. Labour has rubbished it. But this is the best history of New Labour in power yet - and unlikely to be bettered any time soon.