Overview

SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR IN THE POLITICAL BOOK AWARDS 2015 Tim Bell was the original 'spin doctor'; the Chairman of Bell Pottinger public relations, and one of the best known figures in UK media communications. Right or Wrong is his highly personal account of political, commercial and social life from the '70s to the present day. With a refreshingly uncompromising manner, Bell applies his acerbic wit and resolutely right wing sensibility to everything from managing Margaret Thatcher’s election campaigns to his dealings with Ronald Reagan, F.W. de Klerk, the Saatchi brothers, and his late friend David Frost, to name a few. Born into a resolutely middle-class suburban family during the war, he left school at the age of 18 for a job as chart-boy at ABC Television. Rising through the ranks of the burgeoning West End advertising industry, in 1970 he became a co-founder of the Saatchi & Saatchi agency. Bell’s main claim to fame, however, was developing campaigns for the Conservative Party during the general elections of 1979, 1983 and 1987, each of which put Margaret Thatcher into Downing Street, and for which he was awarded a knighthood. In his time, he worked with some of the greatest names of modern politics, business, and media and on world events, historical and controversial alike. First hand memories spill across the pages as Tim Bell gives his ring-side account of key political moments such as the miner's strike, the Cold War, the poll tax riots, the end of Apartheid and the demise of Margaret Thatcher. Controversial, irreverent and outspoken, this is a book that is as polarising as Tim Bell was himself. It attracted admiration and rage in equal measure. And he would not have had it any other way.

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9781472909350

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Reviews

A brilliantly witty and revealing account of life as one of Britain’s most influential men and Thatcher’s closest confidant -- Jane Fryer * Daily Mail * A chronicle of hand-to-hand combat with narcissistic lefties … Mad Men-style excesses with the Saatchi brothers, awkward moments with Princess Diana and cosy interludes with Thatcher * The Times * It is a gloriously indiscreet account of life among Thatcher’s inner circle, detailing - among other highlights - the night Margaret drank herself into a stupor, her withering treatment of Geoffrey Howe, and the astonishing intervention she made when Bell fell out with the Saatchi brothers, his former employers, whose own maverick behaviour makes the ad agency cast of Mad Men look kittenish * Daily Mail * A cracking read … let’s make no bones about it … this book is a fierce right-wing polemic. But even those on the left can admire its candour and clarity of thought * PR Week * A pacy and enjoyable read -- Dominic Sandbrook * The Sunday Times Culture Magazine * Deliciously indiscreet, indisputedly in the know and indispensable for anyone interested in contemporary politics -- John Fanning * Irish Times *

A brilliantly witty and revealing account of life as one of Britain's most influential men and Thatcher's closest confidant -- Jane Fryer Daily Mail A chronicle of hand-to-hand combat with narcissistic lefties . Mad Men-style excesses with the Saatchi brothers, awkward moments with Princess Diana and cosy interludes with Thatcher The Times It is a gloriously indiscreet account of life among Thatcher's inner circle, detailing - among other highlights - the night Margaret drank herself into a stupor, her withering treatment of Geoffrey Howe, and the astonishing intervention she made when Bell fell out with the Saatchi brothers, his former employers, whose own maverick behaviour makes the ad agency cast of Mad Men look kittenish Daily Mail A cracking read . let's make no bones about it . this book is a fierce right-wing polemic. But even those on the left can admire its candour and clarity of thought PR Week A pacy and enjoyable read -- Dominic Sandbrook The Sunday Times Culture Magazine

A brilliantly witty and revealing account of life as one of Britain's most influential men and Thatcher's closest confidant -- Jane Fryer Daily Mail It is a gloriously indiscreet account of life among Thatcher's inner circle, detailing - among other highlights - the night Margaret drank herself into a stupor, her withering treatment of Geoffrey Howe, and the astonishing intervention she made when Bell fell out with the Saatchi brothers, his former employers, whose own maverick behaviour makes the ad agency cast of Mad Men look kittenish Daily Mail

A brilliantly witty and revealing account of life as one of Britain's most influential men and Thatcher's closest confidant -- Jane Fryer Daily Mail A chronicle of hand-to-hand combat with narcissistic lefties . Mad Men-style excesses with the Saatchi brothers, awkward moments with Princess Diana and cosy interludes with Thatcher The Times It is a gloriously indiscreet account of life among Thatcher's inner circle, detailing - among other highlights - the night Margaret drank herself into a stupor, her withering treatment of Geoffrey Howe, and the astonishing intervention she made when Bell fell out with the Saatchi brothers, his former employers, whose own maverick behaviour makes the ad agency cast of Mad Men look kittenish Daily Mail A cracking read . let's make no bones about it . this book is a fierce right-wing polemic. But even those on the left can admire its candour and clarity of thought PR Week A pacy and enjoyable read -- Dominic Sandbrook The Sunday Times Culture Magazine Deliciously indiscreet, indisputedly in the know and indispensable for anyone interested in contemporary politics -- John Fanning Irish Times

Author Information

Tim Bell was a British advertising and public relations executive and founder of Bell Pottinger, one of the most celebrated PR agencies in the UK. He died in August 2019.

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