The End of an Era

In this final volume of Tony Benn's unrivalled series of diaries, the fall of Margaret Thatcher and the tragic was in the Gulf bring to an end a decade which see the disintegration of Eastern Europe and an unprecedented assault on the labour movement at home. Beginning at the high tide of the Conservative victory over Callaghan's Government and charting the course f the authoritarian Thatcher style through the Falkland's War-which re-establishes her waning popularity- The End Of An Era also records the miners' strike, the spycatcher debacle and the Zircon debate. It is a period which marks the peak of Tony Benn's reputation as a brilliant parliamentarian. As a member of Labour's National Executive, Benn is excellently placed to record the transformation of the Labour Party from its socialist and trade union tradition to an essentially social democratic party which endorses an efficient but more humane administration of capitalism. The expulsion of Militant by Neil Kinnock, Benn's leadership challenge, and the founding conference of the Socialist Movement are different responses to the painful political metamorphosis of the party.
The reader has a ringside seat for ten years of an extraordinary era of International and domestic political life.