The Last Goodbye: The History Of The World In Resignation Letters

Description

History is written by the winners. It's the faithful servants, the insiders, the ones who stick around, who can adapt to almost any condition that get to write the official histories. They publish the memoirs, park in the directors' spots, erect the statues, form the new governments, wipe out the pockets of resistance, recruit the new starters, set the agendas, talk on the documentaries and retrospectives. Yet theirs - the official version - is never the whole story. The quitter's tale offers a far more compelling, and often a more honest version of history. The Last Goodbye, Matt Potter collects the pithiest, angriest, most hilarious messages of resignation throughout history, including those whose exits were a springboard to eventual success, such as Steve Jobs, George Orwell and Charlie Sheen.It's full of self-deception, bloody knives, betrayal, honour, disgrace, disgust, thwarted ambition and shattered hopes, and sometimes a wicked sting in the tail ...

Author description

Matt Potter is an author, journalist, broadcaster and editor whose work has taken him from Sony awards and the BBC to the Daily Telegraph, and from Afghanistan to the stage of Madison Square Garden. His 2011 book Outlaws Inc has been published in 4 different languages and more than 17 countries, and won praise from places as diverse as The Literary Review, BBC5Live, the Washington Post, Bizarre magazine and Fox News. He has also written numerous books for the BBC. For almost two decades, he has ghostwritten for world leaders, Hollywood actors, CEOs and rock stars. Since 1987, he has also written parting shots on demand - as far as he knows, he is the world's only resignation ventriloquist. This book is the fruit of a professional journey and a private obsession.