'The talk of the London Book Fair is news that investigative author Andrew Hosken, a senior reporter for Radio 4's Today programme, has just signed up to write an unauthorised biography of the Mayor. Last year he published a scathing biography of disgraced former Tory Westminster Council Chief Dame Shirley Porter' - Londoner's Diary, Evening Standard 'Saturation media coverage around the 2008 London Mayoral election should lead to national interest. There are few politicians around who can polarise opinion like Ken Livingstone, and here Hosken charts his unique and controversial political career'- Greg Eden (Waterstone's), Ones to Watch, The Bookseller'Ken has agreed to be interviewed for the biography, "Ken hasn't always obeyed the idea of keeping one's enemies close, but he undoubtedly reckons this is a good way to be forewarned of anything Andrew intends to write"' - Oliver Marre, Observer'Arcadia paid its largest advance for an unauthorised biography of Ken Livingstone. Hosken admits he is unsure how many skeletons he will find lurking in Ken's closet' - Celia Walden, Daily Telegraph'A splendid book, as easy to read as a good thriller. If we're to have a relatively clean political culture, people ... have to know there are writers like Andrew Hosken about' - Guardian on Nothing Like a Dame

A comprehensive and fascinating account of Ken Livingstone's extraordinary life and career. For nearly 30 years this controversial political chameleon has been making headlines, antagonising, shocking and delighting the public and the press in equal measure. He became the first directly elected Mayor of London as an independent. Since that monumental moment he has won the 2012 Olympics and led the capital during the dark days after the July 7th, 2005 terrorist attacks. Ken is a story of ambition, controversy and ruthlessness.

A ripping yarn Telegraph

After his superb expose of Shirley Porter, the gerrymanderer of Westminster City Council, Hosken has again managed to turn unpromising territory into a corking read. He is the John Grisham of local government Evening Standard

The Livingstone portrayed in this impressively detailed and well-researched biography is a sometimes heroic figure: taking on the Thatcher government to fight the abolition of the Greater London Council, or standing up to the might of the Labour spin machine to win the 2000 mayoral election as an independent. But more often he cuts a rather lonely profile: shuffling around friendless in the House of Commons after he was elected in 1987, for example. Observer

From the provocative biographer of Shirley Porter comes a comprehensive and fascinating account of Ken Livingstone's extraordinary life and career. For nearly thirty years, this controversial political chameleon has been making headlines, antagonising, shocking, and delighting the public and press in equal measure. After taking control of the GLC through an audacious internal coup in 1981, his career was transformed in 2000 when he became the first directly elected Mayor of London as an independent in the teeth of a fierce campaign by Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell.Since then, he has won the 2012 Olympics and led the capital during the dark days following the 7th July 2005 terrorist attacks. In May 2008, he's likely to face his greatest political challenge in the shape of Tory Mayoral hopeful Boris Johnson. Andrew Hosken charts a unique political career of a man often described as Britain's second most powerful politician - a story characterised by ambition, controversy and ruthlessness.

Andrew Hosken is a senior reporter on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, investigating a range of stories at home and abroad. In 2003, he won the One World Media Award for a series on Algerian terrorism for Today. He lives in London.

2008-05-06 A judgemental but quality history

I was not expecting much bearing in mind most of Ken's history has been covered by John Carvel's excellent books. However this biography casts a fresh look from different angles and with greater hindsight and even has an excellent selection of photographs. I never knew Ken was such a student of The Godfather I and II, it explains a lot...The structure also divides Ken's history into easy to digest well defined eras. The final page is an excellent summary of Ken's career and what he actually stands for. No doubt this book will go down in history as the one that finally exposed in detail Ken's other children at the very opportune (cynical?) moment of the build up to an election. The writers style is sharp and engaging but very much like a university lecture with the author's own low shock threshold thrown in for free. Oliver Finegold's terrible suffering is covered in some detail, a man who was happy to work for a family with an anti semitic record. He and other jewish hacks were happy to take their shilling. Mud sticks but considering the sewage pit thrown at Livingstone over the decades he was entirely justified to harass a doorstepper whom he did not initially know was Jewish anyway. Then there is the curious historical revisionism that creeps in:

"the dossier draws attention to Israel's infamous role in the 1982 massacres of Palestinans at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon carried out by a christian militia allegedly with Israeli collusion"

Where does this allegedly come from? It's been a well established fact for decades that the Israeli army controlled the territory, surrounded the camp and lit up the sky with flares. Is Hosken scared of upsetting someone or biased perhaps?

Light is also shed on the grotesque leader of the WRP and Ken's regrettable dalliance with him, Ken ever the pragmatist would work with anyone who would further his agenda in the face of hostility from the mainstream Labour leadership. Perhaps this hostility was justified at times, particularly when Hosken describes the shoddy takeover of Brent East by a new left using ignorant new Labour Party member locals as their voting fodder. I did not realise the intensity and ugliness of it till now and this book certainly covers the ruthless side to 'Cuddly Ken'. Most interesting of all for me was the history and description of the Socialist Action group, the much more slick left machine that propelled Ken in the latter half of his career. Their title is justified as far from feeling hand wringingly horrified at this bunch I was left very impressed at their capacity for getting the job done. If the rest of the left had been that good we'd be living in a socialist republic by now.

Top marks to Hosken for uncovering new areas and conducting a fresh wave of interviews that obviously paid off. Apart from the laughable plea for sympathy for a hack and the historical water muddying this is an incisive, easy to read and highly enjoyable biography.