Sir Julian Critchley served as a Conservative Member of Parliament for 31 years, retiring from the House of Commons in 1997. He has written many books including, A Bag of Boiled Sweets, his political autobiography. Morrison Halcrow, author of A Single Mind about Keith Joseph, was chief assistant editor of the Daily Telegraph from 1979to 1986. Based on a diary kept by Julian Critchley, Collapse of Stout Party charts the path of the Conservative Party since Margaret Thatcher left Downing Street in 1990. This highly entertaining book follows John Major and the Tory Party from their victory in 1992 to their resounding defeat of 1997. Critchley and Halcrow provide a witty and sometimes disbelieving account of this debacle and the hasty election which followed of William Hague as leader. Critchley goes on to predict a further defeat in 2002 based upon Tony Blair"s success and Hague"s first year in opposition. He argues that this defeat will only be underlined should proportional representation be introduced. With Collapse of Stout Party,Critchley lives up to his reputation as one of the most entertaining political writers of recent times. --Pat Naylor