The Benn Diaries...

Dipping in and out of The Benn Diaries (the single volume edition). It's short and snappy episodic nature makes it a fine toilet read, although that's a) probably too much information for you and b) a good setup for a joke by someone unsympathetic to the politics of the left. This edition - which is signed, although there's probably no way of checking the authenticity of that, and cost a mere £1.99 from Oxfam - covers 1940-1990. I found myself quickly turning to 1984, the year of the miners' strike. Sunday 20 May - "...the fact is that the Labour leadership has totally failed to support the working class when in struggle". Hmm.