DOUGLAS FIELD relishes the hard-boiled language, satire and humour of the third and last of the Harlem trilogy
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Four years that shook Britain
JOHN GREEN recommends an insightful look back at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the opposition
END OF THE ROAD: Jeremy Corbyn at an election rally at Hoxton Docks in London, 2019
STEPHANIE BROWN draws attention to the hidden labour of the female embroiderers, and how a 19th century replica made no such error
MIK SABIERS revels in a band that ploughs an idiosyncratic furrow of expletive laden, guitar-driven alt rock
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum
RON JACOBS recommends an important book that enhances the oppositional theories put forth by Fanon and, in doing so, remakes psychology itself
Is Socialism Possible in Britain? Reflections on the Corbyn years
By Andrew Murray
Verso £14.99
THE answer to Andrew Murray’s rhetorical title is, of course, yes, but the really pertinent question is, when? Given the defenestration of Jeremy Corbyn coupled with the extinguished hopes of the many, it could be a long wait.
Hardly anyone is better placed — he was special political adviser for the leader of the opposition — to analyse and explain the Corbyn phenomenon than Murray, so this book is to be warmly welcomed.
With his lifelong activist background, his role as co-chair of Stop the War and his strong association with the trade union movement, becoming chief of staff at Unite, together with his advisory role to the leader’s office under Jeremy Corbyn, he has gained a unique perspective on that era.
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GAVIN O’TOOLE welcomes, and recommends a a candid, evidence-based record of Britain’s role in the slaughter visited by Israel upon the Palestinians
ANDREW MURRAY recommends a volume of essays that nail the visionless, racist and neoliberal character of policy under Starmer’s Labour Party
Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT