- In opposition he was the strategic driving force behind New Labour. - In government he was one of Britain's most intellectually assured chancellors. - Within his own party, he seemed an unchallengeable power. - Everything in his background prepared him for the premiership. And yet, when Gordon Brown entered Number 10, early hopes for a Labour revival were swiftly dashed. Gordon stumbled. Prevaricated. The 'new dawn' promise clouded over. What went wrong? Was it events? Or Gordon himself ? Policy - or the man? Throughout his career, Gordon Brown's fortunes and failures have been comprehensively tracked and carefully scrutinised by the top journalists at the Guardian and the Observer, and this book draws together their writing for the first time, building up a chronicle of Brown's trials, blow by blow. Along the way, it attempts to solve what will come to be recognised as one of the biggest political conundrums of our times: How did Gordon Brown let the New Labour supremacy slip away?