'Chris Patten is the best foreign secretary Britain never had ... Every thinker on, or practitioner of, international affairs will profit from reading any book that Patten writes on foreign policy' - Denis Macshane, Independent 'Exquisitely written ... he is an eloquent and wise voice in a cacophonous world' - Lionel Barber, Financial Times 'An extremely impressive book. It is a very long time since a leading British politician produced anything so ambitious, or as well written.' - Guardian, John Gray

Chris Patten is currently co-Chair of the International Crisis Group, on the Anglo-Indian Round Table, and Chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle Universities. As a British MP 1979-92 he served as Minister for Overseas Development, Secretary of State for the Environment and Chairman of the Conservative Party, being described afterwards as 'the best Tory Prime Minister we never had' (Observer). He is well known for being the last Governor of Hong Kong 1992-97, about which he wrote in East and West (1998). Both that and his most recent book, Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths about World Affairs (2005), were No 1 international best-sellers. He was made a Companion of Honour in 1998 and a life peer in 2005.