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Former diplomat and Downing Street chief of staff throughout the Tony Blair premiership Jonathan Powell argues that talking to terrorists is always the right thing to do however difficult and morally hazardous. Powell was chief British negotiator on Northern Ireland and now runs a charity, Inter Mediate, which works on armed conflicts around the world. In Talking to Terrorists, Powell draws on conflicts from Colombia and Sri Lanka to Palestine and South Africa to argue why we should talk to terrorists and to explain the best way to do it.

Powell rose through the diplomatic service, leaving in 1995 to become chief of staff to the then opposition leader Tony Blair. He became Downing Street chief of staff in 1997 and one of his first jobs was the Northern Ireland negotiation. He later called for tactics used successfully in Northern Ireland to be applied to the war on terrorism.

Supported by Ian and Carol Sellars.