Collateral Damage

Kim Darroch is a retired UK civil servant and life peer in the House of Lords. His diplomatic career spanned over 40 years, primarily focusing on national security issues and European policy, and including roles as the UK's National Security Adviser and Permanent Representative to the European Union. Most recently, Darroch served as British Ambassador to the United States (2016-2019). He was born in Durham and now lives in London with his wife, Vanessa. They have two grown-up children, Simon and Georgina.

'Rude about Theresa May, assertive on Brexit and refreshingly free of self pity ... Darroch recounts the events which led to his resignation as UK ambassador in Washington in droll style ... It is a highly readable and entertaining account of his diplomatic life and times ... He is honest about the "factors" that made Brexit possible. ... Rich in insight'
Luke Harding, Guardian

'A sharply written book, full of dry and wry observations ... But this book is much bigger and more ambitious than a first-person "rise and fall". What gives it its narrative force is that the two central characters in the book - Trump and Johnson - are also the emblems of the surge in populism, and the two history-shaping events in US/UK politics: the EU referendum on 23 June 2016, and the US general election a few months later in November ... Filled with great vignettes and classy analysis from the man who until just over a year ago sat at the top of the diplomatic tree. And there is nothing dusty or dry in his account of dealing with the twin forces of Boris and Donald, and how they've shaped politics - and his life.'
Jon Sopel, Guardian

'Bleakly comic detail ... [Darroch] was obliged to serve in a shark tank at feeding time'
Max Hastings, Sunday Times

'In his telling, he reveals a lot about the way Britain has changed over the past few decades, about how it works now, about a relationship with our closest ally that we like to call "special", and about at least a slice of life in the United States ... Anger still burns on the book's pages ... He delivers sharp insights about others; crisply critical about their decisions, while fair-minded and even kind about them as people. Readers will get the feeling that he prefers to pack a punch than make a splash. Now he has done both'
Edward Lucas, The Times, Book of the Week