From Acorns to Oaks An Urgent Agenda to Rebuild Britain
When Michael Heseltine wrote his acclaimed autobiography, Life in the Jungle, he assumed his political career was over. He returned to Haymarket, his publishing business, and intended to explore more of the world and pursue his passions outside politics.
His assumption was wrong. David Cameron called him, tentatively at first but gradually with increased responsibility, back to the corridors of power.
This second memoir is a potpourri of reminiscences about Heseltine’s life and previously unexplored aspects of his stellar political career. But the main reason for Heseltine taking up his pen again has been to look back on the fundamental changes he was able to mastermind while in government and to set out the policies that are urgently needed to unite the country by driving growth, increasing prosperity and restoring hope. He combines this with new revelations about the seismic Westland scandal, the establishment cover-up that caused him to resign from Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet, and a damning assessment of what he considers the grievous act of self-harm inflicted on Britain by Brexit.
This extraordinary new memoir offers an urgent agenda to rebuild Britain from one of our last great statesmen, who has been at the forefront of business and politics for the past sixty years.
Reviews
“Through this second memoir, Michael Heseltine reveals why he was such a unique, towering and influential figure in post-war British society, not driven by personal ambition or party loyalty but by a lifetime of conviction about what has been missing from efforts to restore Britain. After seven decades on the front line of politics, business and even the natural environment, he draws personal and political lessons that are utterly contemporary.”
Patrick Wintour, diplomatic editor, The Guardian
“How the Conservative Party could do with Michael Heseltine, one of the greatest statesmen of the post-war era, at this dismal moment in its fortunes. Britain too. Everyone should read this book and pay attention – there is no voice that should be listened to more. Heseltine is a good writer, full of wisdom, and his voice comes through loud and clear on every page.”
Peter Oborne, author of The Assault on Truth
“Michael Heseltine is an extraordinary person and it is a pleasure to spend 400 pages in his company. This book is a delight. It’s for anyone who wants to know how to get things done, anyone who admires people who stick to their principles and anyone who just wants a first-hand account of politics from a master practitioner.”
Daniel Finkelstein, columnist, The Times
“Michael Heseltine’s restless, creative mind puts other politicians to shame – as does this priceless testimony of public service.”
Patrick Maguire, columnist, The Times
“Michael Heseltine has been one of the outstanding British politicians of the last fifty years and one of the most influential Conservatives, who has understood how a successful Conservative Party should behave in and out of government. If more people had listened to him, Britain would have avoided many of the problems of the last few years and would be in a much better position today at home, in Europe and in the world.”
Chris Patten, chairman of the Conservative Party 1990–92 and chancellor of the University of Oxford 2003–24
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- Hardback, 432 pages
- ISBN: 9781785909801
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30 January 2025
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30 January 2025
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