Alan Clark Diaries

Alan Clark kept a regular diary from 1955 until August 1999 (during his second spell as a Member of Parliament) when he was incapacitated due to the onset of the brain tumour which was to be the cause of his death a month later. The last month of his life would be chronicled by his wife, Jane.

Alan Clark published his diaries covering the period 1983 to 1992 after he left the House of Commons, deciding not to seek re-election to his Plymouth Sutton seat. Published in 1993 and known simply as Diaries (although later subtitled In Power), they have been recognised as a definitive account of the downfall of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Before his death in 1999, Clark had started work on the prequel to the 1983–1992 Diaries to cover his entry in politics, from seeking a Conservative Association to adopt him as their Parliamentary Candidate in 1972 until the 1983 general election. Published a year after his death, this volume was titled Diaries: Into Politics and covered 1972 to 1983.