Pinochet in Piccadilly

In October 1998, the erstwhile Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London, charged with crimes against humanity by a Spanish magistrate. But over the 16 months that Pinochet was detained, intriguing questions went unanswered about his close ties with Britain. Why was Lady Thatcher so keen to defend the General? And why was Tony Blair's usually cautious government prepared to have him arrested? As Andy Beckett uncovers, the answers reside deep within the long and shadowy history of relations between Britain and Chile. 'An outstanding achievement, and mesmerically readable . . . Beckett has surely written one of the best political travelogues of the year.' Sunday Times 'I am stirred and astonished at [Andy Beckett's] brilliance, and by the imaginative sympathy with which he rekindles the arguments and emotions of a period he never knew.' Christopher Hitchens, London Review of Books

Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist. He has also written for the Economist, The New York Times magazine, the London Review of Books and the Independent on Sunday. His books include Promised You A Miracle, When the Lights Went Out and Pinochet in Piccadilly.