Description
Book SynopsisIn this sequel to his first volume of autobiography Pride and Perjury, Aitken starts his story as he is taken down from the courtroom and incarcerated at Her Majesty''s Pleasure. How this Old Etonian former Cabinet Minister on Mrs Thatcher''s inner circle managed to establish new relationships and lasting friendships with fellow prisoners is fascinating â so too is this account of how religious belief transformed his life. Aitken has lost none of his charm, fluency and determination â and he has found an authentic new life which readers of this entertaining new book will be able to judge for themselves. ''A rich collection of humorous tales of prison life... Aitken seems to have found a new vocation of both a funny writer and a serious prison reformer.'' Tablet
Trade Review"MAIL ON SUNDAY "Aitken's earlier volumes of memoirs, Pride and Perjury, which he completed a few days before entering prison, chronicled his fall from grace. It was more muddled in its intent, veering uneasily between abject penitence and furious self-righteousness. Here in this second volume, his state of mind, and therefore the tone of the book, are both clearer."
Table of Contents1. Sentencing Day at the Old Bailey; 2. The cage, the sweat box, the induction; 3. First days with the blaggers of Belmarsh; 4. Amanuensis and Agony Uncle; 5. Carry on Fleet Street. 6. An open prison run by closed minds; 7. Famous Visitors; 8. Drugs, Escapes, Juggings, Cell Deaths and other Dramas; 9. Carry on Fleet Street; 10. The Cell Group, The Godfather and the Baptism; 11. Holding a Family Together; 12. Christmas Cheer; 13. The Aitken Drugs Plot; 14. Back in High Security; 15. Thoughts on Prison Reform; 16. Released on a Tag; 17. Adjusting to the world of freedom with old friends and new; 18. Grappling with the coils of bankruptcy; 19. An undergraduate again; 20. Two years of theology and happiness at Oxford; 21. Meeting and courting Elizabeth; 22. Fighting for the Persecuted Church (China, Laos, Indonesia, India, etc); 23. Prison Ministry across the world; 24. Audiences great and small (White House, Alpha); 25. Engagement and Marriage; 26. A new life.
