Free At Last: Diaries 1991 - 2001

The published diaries of one of Britain's most famous politicians. A fascinating insight into twentieth century British politics. Tony Benn is the longest serving MP in the history of the Labour Party. He left Parliament in 2001, after more than half a century in the House of Commons, to devote more time to politics. This volume of his Diaries describes and comments, in a refreshing and honest way, upon the events of a momentous decade including two world wars, a change of government in Britain and the emergence of New Labour, of which he makes clear he is not a member. Tony Benn's account is a well documented, formidable and principled critique of the New Labour Project, full of drama, opinion, humour, anecdotes and sparkling pen-portraits of politicians on both sides of the political divide. But his narrative is also broader and more revealing about day-to-day political life, covering many aspects normally disregarded by historians and lobby correspondents, relating to his work in the constituency, including his advice surgeries. This volume also offers far more of an insight into Tony Benn's personal life, his thoughts about the future and his relationship with his family, especially his remarkable wife Caroline, whose illness and death overshadow these years. Tony Benn is a unique figure on the British political landscape- a true democrat, a passionate socialist and diarist without equal. With this volume, his published Diaries cover British politics for over sixty years. It is edited, as are all others, by Ruth Winstone.

About the Author :
Radical statesman and Member of Parliament for over fifty years, Tony Benn is the pre-eminent diarist of his generation. His political activity continued after 'retirement' through mass meetings, broadcasts and in more recent years through social media. A widower since 2000, Tony Benn died at his home in London on 14th March 2014.

Review :
The new volume is, to my mind, the best - he discards his Sunday best and allows himself to emerge as a human being full of weakness and anxieties balanced by an enviable capacity for love and joy There is a passion in Benn's writing and speaking that far transcends the miserable aspirations of most contemporary politicians It is the personal side of the story that most compels...This is the unselfconscious reminiscence of a man in full This is a powerful record of the times Easily the best of the year's diaries... It proves to be an astonishingly moving and human document The best political diarist of our times