This is Only the Beginning: The Making of a New Left, From Anti-Austerity to the Fall of Corbyn

The 2010s were a decade of foodbanks, riots, and the rebirth of political alternatives. Looking to escape a future of rising debt, falling living standards and climate meltdown, a set of movements were born across the globe, led by students, workers and the tent cities of Occupy. A new wave of optimistic, radical young people were building mass movements outside the political bubble, rejecting the neo-liberal consensus and the enrichment of the 1%, and laying the foundations of a new left. Eight years later, Bernie Sanders was favorite to clinch the Democratic Party nomination, and Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum had taken over the Labour Party in Britain, promising ‘a new kind of politics’. But as the new left poured into Labour, it was overwhelmed by older, institutional forces on both left and right. Four years after Corbyn became leader, after bitter-infighting and a Brexit-fuelled strategic crisis, it all fell apart. This is the inside story of how the left came back to life in the 2010s, from a man who found himself at the centre of events - featuring unparalleled access and a range of interviews with key left-wing figures. Influential journalist and activist Michael Chessum explains how this movement was built, why it failed, and what it needs to do now.

Table of Contents:
Preface to the Paperback Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction PART ONE: 2010-2015 Chapter One: Students in a dream world Chapter Two: A generation without a history Chapter Three: The wave breaks PART TWO: 2015-2020 Chapter Four: The riptide Chapter Five: The movement versus the machine Chapter Six: The machine strikes back: Brexit Updated Conclusion: What now? Further Reading Index

About the Author :
Michael Chessum is a journalist and activist. He has written for the Guardian and Observer, the New Statesman, The Independent, Vice, Novara, The London Review of Books and many others. He co-founded the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, playing a prominent role in the student protests of 2010 and the anti-austerity movement that followed. In 2016-17, he was a member of Momentum's first Steering Committee, serving as its Treasurer, and worked as a press officer and speechwriter on Jeremy Corbyn's second leadership campaign. As National Organiser for the left wing anti-Brexit group Another Europe is Possible, he became a dissident within Corbynism and a prominent voice in the public debate on Brexit and migrants' rights.

Review :
Pacey but sober, witty but often very stark – that nevertheless left me feeling so optimistic. [Chessum] writes passionately and eloquently. Here he examines how the emergence of Corbynism and its mass mobilisation came about and what we can learn from its rise and demise taking us on a roller-coaster ride through the history of rebellion and opposition during recent decades, both in Britain and abroad, capturing the excitement, the passion and the disappointments … There is too much useful information and too many perceptive insights in this book to detail here. Read it yourself; I highly recommend it. ‘If I had to stick a book in a time capsule to explain UK left movement politics to future generations, it'd be this one. Michael's insight is, to coin a phrase much in current use, “forensic”.’ ‘Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, however impossible you thought the Corbyn project, here is a rivetingly well-written view from inside the left’s capture of the Labour party.’ ‘Michael Chessum provides not just a necessary hard-nosed assessment of the Corbyn project from someone who was at the heart of its creation, he also poses the tough challenging questions that need to be addressed for the revival of the left.’ 'This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand where the new left generation came from and where we go from here. Michael Chessum describes the mass movement that underpinned Corbyn’s leadership so richly that from the demonstrations to the committee rooms, you’ll feel like you’re there.' Eloquent … It is timely stuff. Featuring “unparalleled access” and a range of interviews with left-wing figures including Owen Jones, Ash Sarkar and John McDonnell MP, this is the inside story of how the Left came back to life in the 2010s, and what it can (and should) do now. A member of Momentum’s first steering committee and general figure in the rooms where it happened, Chessum is an able guide through the tumultuous period covered by the book. An essential read. 'A fascinating insider’s assessment of the rise and impasse of the latest new left that gained political expression, but not realisation, through Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party. At once both controversial and sympathetic , it is essential reading for creative strategic thinking in the future.' With a lively combination of vivid first-hand reportage, insightful interviews and original analysis, This is Only the Beginning offers the most compelling account to date of the movements and circumstances that made the Corbyn moment possible, and of what needs to happen for the radical left to thrive rather than slip back into irrelevance. A clear-eyed and compelling contribution to the post-mortem of the Corbyn era, this is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the movement that provided so much of the energy behind Corbyn's rise. Hugely impressive … full of depth … this is a read the left needs right now. The story of the rise of a new left in British politics, from a leading figure in the anti-Brexit Another Europe is Possible (AEIP), is not a Court History of the Corbyn Project. It offers a picture of the movements and ‘politics from below’ that propelled the left to leadership of the Labour Party. No doubt Michael will be adding his voice to the difficult discussions about how to launch a new project. Here he does not deal with the local vs national or party versus electoral coalition conundrums currently under debate. However his outline vision of a new mass coalition or party is set along the right lines.