I kept having to check that the book that the countless newspaper reviewers were raving about on the cover was the book that I was actually reading because frankly it was dull, very dull. Life as a postman and union official is every bit as boring as it sounds and to be honest his private life was nothing to write a book about. The anecdotes were remarkably tame: Johnson recounts meeting someone in Scotland who had once lived on his estate in Slough- spooky! He is very proud of his "Step by step guide to improved working methods" which unfortunately wasn't able to carry his name but may have helped the post office but had little impact outside this small world. But if any quote gives a sense of dullness it's: "I believed I needed the Slough Amalgamated Branch more than they needed me." During tense negotiations with employers, he describes what it was like being close to the "union's nuclear button" which could have initiated a strike with the very real threat of leaving stamp shortages for a while. After becoming a full time official his life takes off literally as he travels across the UK settling disputes and lists, sadly, romantic far-off places like Birmingham, Whitby, Swindon and many others. While most of it is fairly harmless, he can be unnecessarily malicious toward named colleagues who had drink and other problems. Well Alan I hope your parliamentary life was more exciting but I don’t think I’ll be reading it.