Book description
As a diarist I have chronicled the time through which I have lived in
meticulous detail: but all that is history. What matters now is the
future for those who will live through it.
The past is the past but there may be lessons to be learned which
could help the next generation to avoid mistakes their parents and
grandparents made.
Certainly at my age I have learned an enormous amount from the study
of history - not so much from the political leaders of the time but
from those who struggled for justice and explained the world in a way
that shows the continuity of history and has inspired me to do my work.
Normality for any individual is what the world is like on the day
they are born. The normality of the young is wholly different from the
normality of their grandparents.
It is the disentangling of the real questions from the day to day
business of politics that may make sense for those who take up the
task as they will do.
Every generation has to fight the same battles as their ancestors
had to fight, again and again, for there is no final victory and no
final defeat. Two flames have burned from the beginning of time - the
flame of anger against injustice and the flame of hope. If this book
serves its purpose it will fan both flames.
Tony Benn entered the Commons in 1950 and with Ted Heath held the
record for post-war service as an MP. He has held four cabinet posts and
has twice contended the leadership of the Labour Party, of which he has
also been chairman. His many books include eight individual volumes of
diaries and the childhood memoir,
Dare to Be a Daniel
.
