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Parting Shots by Matthew Parris (Paperback, 2011)

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Matthew Parris's Parting Shots is a treasure trove of wit, venom and serious analysis. Up till 2006 a British Ambassador leaving his post was encouraged to write what was known as a valedictory despatch, to be circulated to a small number of influential people in government. This was the parting shot, an opportunity to offer a personal and frank view of the host country, the manners and morals of its people, their institutions, the state of their cooking and their drains. But it was also a chance to let rip at the Foreign Office itself and to look back on a career spent in the service of a sometimes ungrateful nation.

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Up till 2006, a British Ambassador quitting his post abroad would write a valedictory despatch circulated widely across government, from other far-flung members of the service to the Prime Minister himself. This was the parting shot, the opportunity to offer a personal view of the country he was leaving- the alcoholic intake of its population, the corruption of its ministers, the state of the capital's drains, or the impossibility of getting embassy staff to clean British guests' shoes - whatever he or she wanted to get off their chest. Often funny, frequently astute and almost always gloriously non-politically correct, these parting shots shed light on Britian's place in the world, and reveal the curious cocktail of priviledge and privation which make up the life of an ambassador abroad. 'There is, I fear, no question but that the average Nicaraguan is one of the most dishonest, unreliable, violent and alcholic of the Latin Americans' Roger Pinsent, Managua, 1967 'The detention of the Pinochet made life in Chile unusually interesting... I have never received quite so many death threats' Dame Glynne Evans, Lisbon, 2004

Product Identifiers

PublisherPenguin Books LTD

ISBN-139780670919291

eBay Product ID (ePID)102661103

Product Key Features

Book TitleParting Shots

AuthorMatthew Parris

FormatPaperback

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2011

TypeTextbook

GenreHumor

Number of Pages400 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height198mm

Item Width129mm

Item Weight288g

Additional Product Features

Title_AuthorMatthew Parris

Topic AreaCountry

Country/Region of ManufactureUnited Kingdom

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by rachaehyd_3
28 Oct, 2021
Letters written by outgoing ambassadors abroad.
This was recommended to us by someone we got chatting to whilst on holiday so we ordered it and found it was very interesting and humorous too. Thoroughly enjoyed the comments.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned