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Loading... Undiplomatic Activities (edition 2009)by Richard Woolcott, David Rowe (Illustrator)
Work InformationUndiplomatic Activities by Richard Woolcott None Loading...
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No one doubts that international politics is a serious business, but, as Richard Woolcott shows in this witty memoir, the life of the diplomat has more than its fair share of absurdity and even high comedy. Required, not only, to sacrifice a settled home and family life in the service of their country, diplomats must also, heroically, offer up their livers to booze, their stomachs to endless official dinners, their integrity to dangerous liaisons and the weasel art of spin and evasion, and their sanity to the pomposity and weird protocols that are part and parcel of the international scene. Undiplomatic Activitiesis filled with anecdotes and tales from an extraordinary career spanning the period from his first mid-century posting to Moscow on the eve of Stalin's death to the end of the century as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra, via the capitals of Europe, Africa, Asia, the USA, and the United Nations. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)327.10994Social sciences Political Science International Relations Foreign policy and specific topics in international relations Biography And History PacificLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Woolcott has obviously done some interesting and important things (and doesn't mind telling us about it) and yes, he was involved in some important events (which he definitely doesn't mind telling us about) but the whole 'there I was, when a funny native said ...'wears thin. In the final chapter the author has a quick jab at the current political climate, but that is about it for analysis.
There are a few gems in the book, and perhaps for some it would be worth reading the whole book to find them. And I am guessing that Woolcott would be a great dinner party guest. But as an author, he comes across as just a bit too smug. ( )