This work focuses on the main events of Lord Irvine's life: how he overcame a disadvantaged childhood and won a scholarship to a private school; his time at Glasgow University, including meeting future Labour Party leader John Smith, who became one of his closest friends; his studies at Cambridge; his time as a lecturer at the London School of Economics during a period of student unrest; his career as a barrister; his unsuccessful attempt in 1970 to get elected to Parliament; his affair with, and eventual marriage to, Alison Dewar (then the wife of current Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar); his time as pupil master to Tony Blair and Cherie Booth; setting up his own chambers; his role in the campaign to expel members of Militant from the Labour Party; the death of John Smith; becoming Lord Chancellor; and his performance as Lord Chancellor to date, including the series of gaffes that caused him to be vilified in the press. Other topics covered include Irvine's relationship with, and influence over, the Prime Minister, his desire to be seen as a great reforming Lord Chancellor, the role of the Lord Chancellor in modern politics and whether his role should change, and whether the government is guilty of cronyism in its appointment of Irvine and a number of other officials. Crucially, the book looks behind the public persona and reveals and explains Lord Irvine's complex personality and how certain character traits are at the root of some of the problems he has experienced during his time as Lord Chancellor.