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Craig Murray

The Catholic Orangemen of Togo: and other Conflicts I Have Known Paperback – January 12, 2009

by Mr Craig J Murray (Author)

4.8 20 ratings

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In this prequel to the bestselling Murder in Samarkand, Craig Murray describes how he discovered the dark heart at the centre of Tony Blair's shiny New Labour administration shortly after its beginning, when Murray was the key witness in the Arms to Africa Affair which rocked the British political establishment. Murray makes a strong case against "liberal intervention" as he describes the use of mercenaries to obtain African mineral resources for Western financial interests. In so doing, Murray takes us on a journey into some of the darkest recesses of colonial history in Africa. As ever with Murray the story is laced with personal anecdotes, sometimes hilarious, sometimes terrifying, and sometimes both.

Print length

296 pages
Language

English
Publication date

January 12, 2009
Dimensions

5 x 0.62 x 7.99 inches
ISBN-10

1541023404
ISBN-13

978-1541023406
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Mr Craig Murray
178
Paperback
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About the Author

Craig Murray is a historian and political commentator. A former British Ambassador and Rector of the University of Dundee, Murray now lives in Edinburgh with his wife Nadira and three children. A winner of the Sam Adams Award for Integrity, he is best known today for his work alongside WikiLeaks.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 2nd edition (January 12, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 296 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1541023404
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1541023406
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.62 x 7.99 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,979,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #20,076 in Political Leader Biographies

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4.8 20 ratings

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Don K

Critical thinking and action meet corporate

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2023

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Rippin’ good yarn. A fine example of an entrepreneur stuck in a diplomat’s body. The Foreign Office comes off as dominated by a clique of ethically suspect careerists. An occupational hazard of all bureaucracies.

True, in this as in his other works, the protagonist himself comes off as morally somewhat friable, despite his considerable overall, and even occasionally towering, moral instincts and strengths. Welcome to the real world!

An accurate, highly readable, entertaining, and instructive work, as is his Murder in Samarkand, which I also highly recommend.

The author’s creativity in approaching his work should be studied by intelligence officers and diplomats for years to come, but likely will not be, as he’s made himself the skunk at the Special Relationship garden party.

An instantiation of a hero’s journey and worth every penny of the price of admission. No wonder he was apparently selected as the go between before Seth Rich was murdered.

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conjunction

Essemtial Testimony about Modern Africa

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2010

As in his earlier book, Murray is enormously entertaining. But this is also by far the most informative book I have read about the nature of the problems modern African states tend to have. For instance he describes how many modern African countries have developed very restrictive trade agreements which allow them to accept subsidised US or EU produce, thereby bankrupting their own businesses, but won't trade with each other because so many businesses are corrupt monopolies owned by relatives of government officials and they don't want their neighbours to get the jump on them.

Murray also details a colossal level of corruption and bloodletting among all the West African countries, even the relatively stable Ghana. In the earlier part of the book Murray details his role in London having responsibilities for West Africa as a whole. Later he became Deputy High Commissioner of Ghana.

His most remarkable achievement here was in going to enormous lengths to facilitate a free election at the point when Jerry Rawlings had to give up power, having served two terms, and by virtue of incredible levels of organisation and very hard work managed to get a result.

This book is also frequently hilarious, never more so than in recounting his stage management of a Royal visit to Ghana, Duke of Edinburgh and all. At one stage the royal support team set up camp, so to speak, at an Accra hotel, at another the High Commissioner is gloriously upstaged. Some sections remind me of Evelyn Waugh's 'Black Mischief'. Murray speaks the truth and sometimes its shocking, often it confirms in glorious detail what one had often suspected, and sometimes it's hilarious.

This book is set in the 90s, before Murray went to Uzbekistan, but was written quite recently, and Murray wasn't as cynical about the morality of his own government during his stay in Africa as he later became. But what he has to tell us about the Arms for Africa affair reveals that what has shocked so many of us about Blair's involvement in the Iraq war was not a one-off, driven by some compulsion to kowtow to the Americans. Long before 9/11 he was ignoring the painstaking work of whole departments of the Foreign Office to get his mates off the hook with their massively profitable corrupt arms dealing.

To anyone who loves Africa, and to anyone who wants chapter on verse on exactly how degraded the conduct of our government has become, this is essential reading.

By the way, you may find this book cheaper on Amazon.co.uk or the author's website.

9 people found this helpful

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BioDiplomacy

New Labour's Sandline shame

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 25, 2009

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This riveting book contains a smoking gun. "The Sandline Affair" (Chapter 4) reveals for the first time that in 1998 the Prime Minister had no objection to British mercenaries breaching UN sanctions by selling arms to Sierra Leone. Despite a thick dossier from Customs & Excise recommending prosecutions, the Crown Prosecution Service decided to take no action - without even reading the papers. As Craig Murray notes, "this was the first major instance of the corruption of the legal process that was to be a hallmark of the Blair years." His account has authority: he was then the most senior FCO official whose sole responsibility was West Africa.
Most of this memoir, including the delightful discovery that provides the title, covers Craig's subsequent posting to Accra. He was number two in a High Commission at the centre of two key African issues: democracy and development. He also acted as midwife for the safe delivery of the Lomé peace agreement over Sierra Leone, dealing with extraordinary people like Colonel Isaac, a boy soldier forced at age eight to kill his own mother and father.
For all its vivid anecdotes, this is a thoughtful account of why effective diplomacy requires far more than mechanical implementation of directives from Whitehall. There is much here that other diplomats will recognise: why it is sometimes not wise (even if much cheaper) to entrust visa work to local employees; and concern at how UK development aid has become primarily a matter of direct budgetary support. There is valuable documentary evidence in several footnotes.
This book is for anyone for whom Africa matters - and for those drawing up the charge sheets against Blair.

16 people found this helpful

Paul Woods

An extraordinarily undiplomatic diplomat's account of New Labour's neocolonial interference in Africa.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2017

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This is one of those books that, once you start reading, you can't put down. It includes numerous amusing anecdotes from the time the author spent as Deputy High Commissioner in Ghana. For a former diplomat, Craig Murray can be wildly undiplomatic, and given the risque nature of many of his anecdotes, one wonders what else might have come out if the manuscript had not been "lightly censored" by the FCO. As a former British Council officer who was once posted to Sierra Leone, I was particularly amused by the account of how Craig managed to get the gay Council Director in Accra released from police custody for a small "consideration". He exposes the background to the Sandline affair in Sierra Leone and the circumstances surrounding the demise of High Commissioner Peter Penfold. He is damning in his condemnation of DFID's abandonment of aid projects in favour of budgetary support, and pulls no punches in describing the machinations of Tony Blair's Africa policy and the dubious role played by political heavyweights such as Baroness Amos, whom he describes as "the very antithesis of a democratic politician". His memoirs do indeed, to quote the closing lines of the book, "throw some light on a most shameful period of British foreign policy, viewed from some unusual and fascinating points of vantage."

7 people found this helpful

MGR

One of those 'must read' books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2019

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Excellent Book - You might not like Craig Murray but that does not spoilt the fact that he has an interesting story to tell and he tells it well. A very useful dip into the world of politics and diplomacy.

One person found this helpful

Mr. A. R. Taylor

A great book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2015

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This is the second book I have read by this author and his honesty and clarity in communicating his experiences are truly engaging. For those with an interest in how countries and states transition and the role of the UK diplomat in these processes I view this as essential reading. A great book.

One person found this helpful

Amazon_Customer

Interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 29, 2020

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Interesting read of his experiences

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