How have the workings of the British civil service changed over the past forty years? In this new memoir, Sir Brian Unwin discloses his veritable wealth of experience behind the scenes of British government. His reflections chart a course from his education at Oxford and Yale, through to a seven year stint as President of the European Investment Bank. On the way, his vivid and diverse career spanned diplomatic posts in Ghana and Southern Rhodesia, time at the Treasury and the chairmanship of HM Customs and Excise. Including a first-hand, eyewitness account of the air crash that killed UN Dag Hammarskjoeld, these memoirs encounter some of the most iconic moments and personalities of late 20th century politics. Over the course of his career, Unwin has attained an understanding of the finer details of British government like few others - at once nostalgic, personal and deeply knowledgeable, his memoirs shed light on the inner workings of Whitehall.

Sir Brian Unwin studied at the universities of Oxford and Yale. After a career in the Civil Service he became President of the European Investment Bank. He is the author of Terrible Exile: The Last Days of Napoleon on St Helena, which was shortlisted for the Fondation Napoleon History Prize, and A Tale in Two Cities: Fanny Burney and Adele, Comtesse de Boigne (both I.B.Tauris).