Two anthologies emanating from the broadly defined British left have wildly different conceptions of progress and democracy. One celebrates protest while the other refuses to stray from the narrow confines of existing political debate.
Urging a 'revising of New Labour', The Purple Book refuses to acknowledge the mistakes of the Blairite era. What it does show is that Britain is in a new age of 'colour politics', where flux and confusion reigns as we struggle to find an alternative to market fundamentalism.
Bob Marshall-Andrews and Richard Wainwright were two MPs who, in very different ways, belonged to the honourable and increasingly rare breed of parliamentarians who brought integrity and a willingness to speak up to the House of Commons, the public and their parties.
Owen Jones' new book documents the changes that have turned the working class into an object of fear and ridicule
Patrick Dunleavy finds essential reading for academics in the run up to the AV referendum in Alan Renwick’s recent book.
As events in North Africa and the Middle East are daily displaying, America’s global influence is rapidly waning. This is an apt time to return to Brian Landers’ Empires Apart, a hugely impressive comparative study of the imperial imperatives of America and Russia: one which stimulates reflective
Stuart Weir, Associate Director of Democratic Audit, reflects on Nicholas Shaxson’s new book on the scale, depth and penetration of tax havens and tax avoidance across the globe.
The ‘new ruins’ – poorly designed and shoddy shopping malls and mass-produced housing – are ubiquitous throughout our cities. Ken Worpole finds that Owen Hatherley is a witty and erudite gazetteer of terrible mistakes, but wonders if the acerbic author is as fair as he could be
The Spirit Level's message on income equality and its benefits is more relevant than ever in the Coalition era. David Beetham reviews the new edition of the book, in which the authors expand and update their analysis.
In the second review of the book on the rule of law by Lord Bingham, the former lord chief justice, Keith Ewing argues that far from being crusaders for the rule of law, our judges regularly fail to protect human rights
A review of Christopher Harvie's new look
