The Searchers: Five Rebels, Their Dream of a Different Britain, and Their Many Enemies

The Searchers is a book about the untold story of British politics in modern times, through the triumphs and disasters of its five most radical figures: Tony Benn, Ken Livingstone, John McDonnell, Diane Abbott, and Jeremy Corbyn. It reveals their project to create a radically more equal, liberal, and democratic Britain has been more influential than electoral history might suggest, and can be seen in the shape of our city life and the causes of our culture wars.

Format: Hardback
Length: 560 pages
Publication date: 02 May 2024
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

From the acclaimed author of Promised You a Miracle and When the Lights Went Out, the untold story of British politics in modern times, through the triumphs and disasters of its five most radical figures.

"The Searchers" is an absorbing history of Labour's radical left from the late 1960s to its present marginalisation. Jason Cowley, Observer, praised it as "a valuable contribution to our understanding of Labour's radical past." Patrick Maguire, The Times, called it "a fascinating and important book."

In the great revolutionary year of 1968, Tony Benn was a respectable Labour minister in his forties, and he was restless. While new social movements were shaking up Britain and much of the world, Westminster politics seemed stuck. It was time, he decided, for a different approach.

Over the next half century, the radicalized Benn helped forge a new left in Britain. He was joined by four other politicians, who would become comrades, collaborators, and rivals: Ken Livingstone, John McDonnell, Diane Abbott, and Jeremy Corbyn.

For Andy Beckett, the story of these admired and loathed political explorers - both their sudden breakthroughs and long stretches in the wilderness - is the untold story of British politics in modern times. As he reveals, their project to create a radically more equal, liberal, and democratic Britain has been much more influential than electoral history might suggest, and can be seen from the shape of our city life to the causes of our culture wars.

For their many detractors, this influence was and remains dangerous: a form of extremism that must be stamped out. But as these five searchers believed, in politics, there is no total victory - nor total defeat.

The Searchers is a timely and important book that sheds light on the complex and often controversial history of the British left. It is a must-read for anyone interested in British politics and social history.

Weight: 954g
Dimension: 241 x 163 x 35 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780241394229