Tony Blair has reportedly described Gordon Brown as "difficult, at times maddening" in his memoirs¹, being published on Wednesday.

据报道，托尼·布莱尔的回忆录本周三被出版发行，书中其对戈登·布朗的描述“不随和，有时令人发狂”。

Mr Blair is to donate his reported £4m advance from his publishers to the Royal British Legion

He told the BBC Mr Brown could also be an "immense source of strength" but that Labour lost power because it "backed away（逐渐后退） " from further reforms.

Mr Blair also writes about his "anguish²（痛苦，苦恼） " over the Iraq War, but says he did not regret the 2003 invasion.

He also reportedly writes about his concerns over his own drinking habits.

The Daily Telegraph, which has seen a foreign language copy of the book - which is being published at 0800 BST - says he describes drinking a gin and tonic³（琴酒补剂） or whisky before his evening meal, then having several glasses of wine.

The book, which took three years to write, focuses on his time spent in Downing Street.

Brown tensions

In his book, Mr Blair also described Mr Brown as a man who possessed⁴ a significant power base within the party and media, a position which would have made it difficult to sack（解雇） him as chancellor⁵.

Mr Blair said: "Was he difficult, at times maddening? Yes. But he was also strong, capable and brilliant, and those were qualities for which I never lost respect.

"When it's said that I should have sacked him, or demoted（使降级） him, this takes no account of the fact that had I done so, the party and the government would have been severely⁶ and immediately destabilised and his ascent⁷ to the office of prime minister would probably have been even faster."

Mr Blair also said he could not prevent his chancellor moving from No 11 to No 10 Downing Street.

During his BBC interview, Mr Blair said his relationship with Mr Brown was "frankly⁸ hard, going on impossible" but that "for large parts of the time we were in government, he was an immense source of strength".

He added that, when Mr Brown was chancellor, "people maybe over-estimated his capacity to be prime minister" but then during "the last three years, when he was prime minister, people maybe underestimated（低估，看轻） his strengths".

In extracts released to the Guardian⁹ in advance of publication, Mr Blair said Mr Brown's time as prime minister "was never going to work" partly because the former chancellor had "zero emotional intelligence".

Mr Blair has previously¹⁰ announced he is to donate his book's advance payment - reported to be £4m - plus all royalties¹¹（版税，稿酬） to the Royal British Legion.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr he had decided¹² to make the donation to a fund connected to the Armed Forces before he had "written a word".

"I wanted to indicate my sense of respect and the honour in which I hold these people, that I regard as out on the front line of the biggest security threat we face in the world today," he said.

Mr Blair also insisted leaving Saddam Hussein in power would have been a "bigger risk" to security than removing him.