Isn't it strange how the bete noire of British politics became the cuddly favourite uncle as a national outpouring of sorrow issued forth at his demise?

Margaret Thatcher was famous for saying that there was no such thing as 'society'; here, Tony Benn proves that there is and, I know which vision of reality I prefer to inhabit. Benn takes us from the origins of Socialism in the Old Testament to the 1980's, the decade after this book was written. The book oozes compassion and care for all his fellow men (men as the species, not just the sub-species). The difficulty with reading a book more than thirty-five years old, is that the issues have moved on. It is tempting to dismiss large sections of the book on this premise: there are chapters dedicated to the 1970's and 1980's. It would, however, be a pity so to do as there are nuggets of wisdom hidden within this history lesson.

After finishing this book, I found myself wondering how many of Labour's current leaders would find any point of contact with Benn's cogently argued defence of Socialism. The answer is sufficiently depressing that I immediately wished that I had not and felt that the only means of raising my sunken spirits was to firstly bring any reader's optimism to its knees and secondly to issue a peon of praise to the Green Party for taking on the mantle of a caring political grouping. It is good to realise that, plus ça change.....

Incidentally, I have been mean with my star allocation: deducting half a star for my tardiness in reading this work. ( )