Peter Hain - Author
About the Author
Lord Hain was the Labour MP for Neath between 1991 and 2015. He was a senior minister for twelve years in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments, where he served as Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and as Leader of the Commons. He was also Europe Minister, Foreign Minister and Energy Minister. He chaired the UN Security Council, and negotiated international Treaties curbing nuclear proliferation and banning the conflict-inducing trade in blood diamonds. Peter Hain's childhood was spent in apartheid South Africa, a period that came to an end when his parents were forced into exile in 1966. A leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Anti-Nazi League in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s, he obtained degrees at Queen Mary College, London, and Sussex University.
Featured books by Peter Hain
The Rhino Conspiracy
Written by former Labour MP and leading Anti-Apartheid and Anti-Nazi League campaigner Peter Hain, The Rhino Conspiracy is a true page-turner. A thriller that resonates with conscience, timeliness and deep knowledge of South African politics and wildlife. The book’s backdrop is a political landscape in which a corrupt South African government has chosen to overlook lucrative rhino poaching. In the words of Mkhize, a young ranger, “It’s war out there. Those bastards have AK-47 assault rifles. They don’t mess about. To get those rhino horns they will murder anybody, destroy anything.” But he recognizes deep complexities too: “Wildlife is seen as something for rich whites, so poachers can be seen as sort of Robin Hoods. Kill a poacher and you can turn these communities against wildlife protection.” This corruption has led a veteran freedom fighter to break his lifelong ties with the ANC. He wants to bring about change: “The Veteran had a responsibility – no, a duty – to act.” But he needs “help from a younger protégé. Someone to do the legwork, to be out there reporting back to him.” Enter Thandi, a young woman who was “Born Free but not a Born Forget’”. Unlike most of her peers, she knows history, and is inspired by Mandela and his ANC comrades, stirred by their “courage, determination and passionate commitment to democracy, to human rights, to social justice.” Having recently been on safari with Mkhize and struck up a bond with him, they both attend the Veteran’s political event and sign-up to his cause. The work is highly risky, and becomes riskier still as they uncover corruption on an international scale, with multiple individuals embroiled. The narratives move smoothly between different characters and perspectives, making for a tensely enthralling ride. Passionate and pacey throughout, The Rhino Conspiracy is also underpinned by a vital commentary on the nature of bringing about change. In the words of the Veteran, “Big change never came solely from within the system, but from external force as well.”
Other books by Peter Hain
A Pretoria Boy
'A stalwart anti-racist and anti-apartheid campaigner.' Doreen (Baroness) Lawrence 'From fighting for Nelson Mandela's freedom to exposing his betrayal under Jacob Zuma, a 50 year story of constant campaigning.' Sir Trevor McDonald, broadcaster The powerful and timely story of Peter Hain's political life fighting South African apartheid and modern-day corruption. Peter Hain has had a dramatic 50-year political career, in Britain and his native South Africa. This is the story of that extraordinary journey, from Pretoria to the House of Lords. Hain vividly describes his anti-apartheid parents' arrest and harassment in the early 1960s, the hanging of a close white family friend, and enforced London exile in 1966. After organising militant anti-Springbok demonstrations he became 'Public Enemy Number One' in the South African media. Narrowly escaping jail for disrupting all-white South African sports tours, he was framed for bank robbery and nearly assassinated by a bomb. He used British parliamentary privilege to expose looting and money laundering in President Jacob Zuma's administration, informed by his government 'deep throat', and likely influenced Zuma's resignation. Hain ends by exhorting South Africa to reincarnate Nelson Mandela's vision and integrity for the future. Praise for A Pretoria Boy: 'Peter's gripping story and his passionate activism resonates with me over our common (African) childhood and exile in Britain.' Natasha Kaplinsky, broadcaster 'A tour de force over an extraordinary half century of campaigning for justice.' Helen Clark, former New Zealand Prime Minister and United Nations Development Chief 'Talk about courage and chutzpah - this young 'un helped topple apartheid!' Ronnie Kasrils, former ANC underground chief and Minister
Mandela
Mandela: His Essential Life chronicles the life and legacy of one of the twentieth century's most influential and admired statesmen. Charting his development from remote rural roots to city lawyer, freedom fighter, and then political leader, Peter Hain takes an in-depth look at Mandela's rise through the ranks of the African National Congress (ANC) and subsequent 27 years imprisonment on Robben Island, as increasingly vocal protests against the injustices of Apartheid brought his struggle against overwhelming prejudice and oppression to the eyes of the world. This book encompasses Mandela's inauguration as South Africa's first democratically elected president, his retirement campaigns for human rights, a solution to AIDS and poverty. It goes on to chronicle his later years and death. Throughout, the humanity and compassion of this extraordinary world leader shine through. The author concludes with a critical analysis of his and the ANC's achievements, its leadership's subsequent slide into corruption, and whether under new direction South Africa can reclaim the values and legacy of Mandela, and the 'rainbow nation' he created and led to such global acclaim.
Hain Diaries
A selection of fascinating extracts from notes and digital recordings made by Peter Hain during his twelve years serving in government, The Hain Diaries offers an invaluable insight into the workings and workers of the New Labour Cabinet. Providing a unique record of the ups and downs of ministerial life, informed and enhanced by Peter's experiences before and outside politics, the diaries form a compilation of candid and thoughtful reflections on parliament, power and problem-solving. Peter's career in government was marked by daily struggles to reconcile rival interests and individuals in bold attempts to resolve some of the most historically sensitive political issues of the time - from Iraq to Northern Ireland to Europe - and it is these events that provide the backdrop to his writings. However, although he was a figure who achieved senior office and was directly involved in key Cabinet decisions, Hain fell into neither the Blair nor Brown camps and is therefore perfectly placed to offer a rare non-sectarian perspective of New Labour in power. Serving as a brilliant complement to his memoir Outside In (Biteback Publishing), this collection documents Peter's successes and failures - as well as the lessons learned from them - and makes absorbing reading for anybody interested in a genuinely personal account of government life.
Ad and Wal
What would you do if you lived under the ugliest of regimes, a byword for repression and injustice? What would you do if you knew that you could stay safe only if you stayed quiet? Most of us like to think we'd stand up to fight against evil, and yet the vast majority of white South Africans either stood by and said nothing or actively participated in the oppression and carnage during apartheid. Ad & Wal is the story of two modest people who became notorious, two survivors who did what they thought was right, two parents who rebelled against the apartheid regime knowing they were putting themselves and their family in grave danger. Ad & Wal is the story of an ordinary couple who did extraordinary things despite the odds. How did they come to their decision? What exactly did they do? What can we learn from them? Peter Hain, MP and former Cabinet minister, tells the story of his parents - campaigners, fighters, exiles - in this searing and inspiring account.
Das Geheimnis therapeutischer Wirkung
Worin liegt das Geheimnis einer erfolgreichen Psychotherapie? Was wirkt in den verschiedenen therapeutischen Verfahren? Peter Hain hat zehn international bekannte und renommierte Kapazitaten aus unterschiedlichen psychotherapeutischen Schulen nach den Wirkfaktoren ihrer Arbeitsweise befragt. Heraus kam ein konsequent inter- und transdisziplinar ausgerichtetes Buch. Sein Gesprachsteil gibt einen lebendigen und unmittelbaren Einblick in das therapeutische Vorgehen, die berufliche Entwicklung und die immense Erfahrung der Befragten. Im Auswertungsteil beschreibt Peter Hain die Basisvariablen psychotherapeutischer Arbeit und wie sie unabhangig von Schulen oder speziellen Techniken wirken. Eine spannend zu lesende Basisliteratur fur jede zukunftsgerichtete therapeutische Ausbildung und Arbeit!Gesprche mit: Frank Farrelly (Provokative Therapie) Erika Fromm (Hypnoanalyse) Eugene Gendlin (Focusing) Moris Kleinhauz (Klassische Hypnosetherapie) Reinhart Lempp (Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie) Clo Madanes (Strategische Familientherapie) Siegfried Mrochen (Hypnosystemische Therapie) Helm Stierlin (Systemische Familientherapie) Hans H. Strupp (Psychotherapieforschung) Paul Watzlawick (Kurzzeittherapie/Konstruktivismus)
Outside In
Peter Hain has lived an extraordinary life. Formerly an 'outsider' he became an 'insider', one of the last Labour government's most effective ministers. He held an array of glittering posts in the British political establishment, from key roles in the Foreign Office and the Department of Trade and Industry, to the leadership of the Commons and the brokering of the 2007 devolution settlement in Northern Ireland. But his journey to become a British Cabinet Minister started on a different continent. Growing up in Pretoria, South Africa, life changed irrevocably when a close family friend was hanged by the apartheid government. Before that, the security police had taken his activist parents away in the middle of the night. The political values he holds today spring from the injustices he witnessed growing up and which drew him into politics in the first place. As the eldest child, Hain was left to look after his younger brother and two small sisters. Thus began his career as a militant antiapartheid protester. Far from the bloated memoirs of a former government insider, this is the story of a courageous, campaigning life that is intrinsically bound up with the destiny of South Africa.
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