Paddy Ashdown fair packed them in to the RBS Main Theatre at Charlotte Square Gardens, cheering possibly for the Liberal Democratic Party, but certainly for an author on his sixth book, which he assured his audience didn't become a political story till page 192.
For this is the story of "A Fortunate Life", Ashdown from infancy to advancing years. There's a lot to pack in between the covers of one volume, beginning with growing up the child of a "mixed marriage" in Northern Ireland, where such unions have nothing to do with race and everything to do with religious persuasion.
Coming from a military family, Ashdown's choice of a career in the Royal Marines probably came as no surprise to his parents, although his story of one unfortunate recruit to his next unit, the Special Boat Service, might well have given them pause. Packing them in as far as Ashdown's anecdotes extensively went became an equal challenge, as the self-described non-linguist learnt Malay and Chinese in rapid succession, and after graduation in the latter, to a career whose name he hardly dared speak, but in which the late Sir Maurice Oldfield may have had a hand.
From patrolling the streets of Belfast to knocking on doors in Yeovil in Somerset may seem a considerable leap, but Ashdown accomplished this, winning the seat on a sixth attempt. By this point in proceedings, his career as leader of the Liberals in the wake of Jeremy Thorpe's resignation and part in the creation of the Liberal Democratic Party as it now substantially is, was somewhat curtailed to enable him to speak at some length about his time as an international peace-maker, especially in Former Yugoslavia.
The twists and turns, major catastrophes and minor victories of that time have clearly marked Ashdown and make him well worth heeding on the present and possible future of that still-troubled part of Europe. Although perhaps now seen as an elder statesman to be respected rather than regarded, one hopes there are still opportunities and openings for those with Ashdown's experience and clear-eyed clarity of vision.
Copyright Bill Dunlop 2009
First published on EdinburghGuide.com 2009