Consider this one for the 'stranger than fiction' files, or perhaps the 'couldn't make this up if I tried' files.
Tony Blair, was quoted in two different publications on Saturday as crediting his entree into politics to both Christianity and a sympathetic biographical work on Trotsky.
So let me see if I can get this straight, In
this article, in the Independent, dated March 4th, 2006 Tony Blair claims-
...that his interest in politics sprang from his Christianity and its "values and philosophy" had guided him in public life.
Then in this article, ALSO dated March 4th, 2006 in Newsday.com, Blair-
...said he had been inspired to enter politics by a book about socialist icon Leon Trotsky.
More specifically, Isaac Deutscher's three volume portrayal and vindication of Trotsky: "The Prophet Armed," "The Prophet Unarmed" and "The Prophet Outcast".
He continues on-
"I might as well make a confession now," Blair said. "There were people who got me very involved in politics. But then there was also a book."
Yup, stranger than fiction.