Last Christmas I almost killed myself. Almost. I’ve had a lot of almosts. Never gone from almost to deed. Don’t think I ever will. But it was a bad almost. ‘Better to Live’ is Alastair Campbell’s honest, moving, and life affirming account of his lifelong struggle with depression.

 It is an autobiographical, psychological, and psychiatric study, which explores his own childhood, family and other relationships, and examines the impact of his professional and political life on himself and those around him. But it also lays bare his relentless quest to understand depression not just through his own life but through different treatments.