No Higher Honour: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, Condoleezza Rice

A fat political memoir that is full, frank – but flawed

Rice cannot be faulted on the issue of detail with this 766-page doorstopper, and her fondness for correct procedures gives her memoir a sense of concreteness.

A little veering-off might have been welcome, however – what most of us want to know is how the first black woman to hold the office of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor felt about those roles, and interacted with her white, male colleagues. Cheney makes only brief appearances though, while Rumsfeld patronisingly tells her she's "bright and obviously committed". Her reaction to 9/11, and admission that they didn't get it quite right in Iraq have been hailed as frank revelations, but they are really the least she could give here.