Office Without Power

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Tony Benn's second volume of diaries, which spans the years 1968-72, is a unique record of British politics as observed both from the heart of the Cabinet and the Labour Party. George Brown's spectacular resignation and Cecil King's plot to overthrow Wilson are just two of the events which dominate the opening chapter, and introduce the last years of Labour's increasingly demoralised government. And for the first time in a political diary, Labour's experience of Opposition after the unexpected and shattering defeat of 1970 is revealed. Here, too, are recorded the bitter arguments over the Common Market, in which Tony Benn emerged as the principal advocate of a referendum on Britain's entry - and which foreshadowed the Labour/SDP schism of 1981. The result is a fascinating and invaluable document of the times.