I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

This text traces Jonny Oates's adventure as it led him to Zimbabwe where, aged eighteen, he was made deputy head of a rural secondary school - which had yet to be built. It follows him in South Africa during the final year of Mandela's presidency, where he worked with Zulu leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, as South Africa sought to shape a future from its bitterly divided past. The story culminates in the roller-coaster-ride of Britain's first post-war coalition government where, as Nick Clegg's Chief of Staff, he had a unique view of events that shaped the future of the country and learned important lessons about the difference between power and duty.