This is Only the Beginning

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents This is Only the Beginning by Michael Chessum, read by Joe Jameson.

The 2010s were a decade of foodbanks, riots, and the rebirth of political alternatives. Looking to escape a future of rising debt, falling living standards and climate meltdown, a set of movements were born across the globe, led by students, workers and the tent cities of Occupy.
A new wave of optimistic, radical young people were building mass movements outside the political bubble, rejecting the neo-liberal consensus and the enrichment of the 1%, and laying the foundations of a new left. Eight years later, Bernie Sanders was favorite to clinch the Democratic Party nomination, and Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum had taken over the Labour Party in Britain, promising ‘a new kind of politics’.
But as the new left poured into Labour, it was overwhelmed by older, institutional forces on both left and right. Four years after Corbyn became leader, after bitter-infighting and a Brexit-fuelled strategic crisis, it all fell apart.
This is the inside story of how the left came back to life in the 2010s, from a man who found himself at the centre of events – featuring unparalleled access and a range of interviews with key left-wing figures. Influential journalist and activist Michael Chessum explains how this movement was built, why it failed, and what it needs to do now.

Critics Review

No doubt Michael will be adding his voice to the difficult discussions about how to launch a new project. Here he does not deal with the local vs national or party versus electoral coalition conundrums currently under debate. However his outline vision of a new mass coalition or party is set along the right lines.
Anti*Capitalist Resistance
Pacey but sober, witty but often very stark – that nevertheless left me feeling so optimistic.
The Guardian
[Chessum] writes passionately and eloquently. Here he examines how the emergence of Corbynism and its mass mobilisation came about and what we can learn from its rise and demise taking us on a roller-coaster ride through the history of rebellion and opposition during recent decades, both in Britain and abroad, capturing the excitement, the passion and the disappointments … There is too much useful information and too many perceptive insights in this book to detail here. Read it yourself; I highly recommend it.
Morning Star
‘If I had to stick a book in a time capsule to explain UK left movement politics to future generations, it'd be this one. Michael's insight is, to coin a phrase much in current use, “forensic”.’
Clive Lewis, MP
‘Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, however impossible you thought the Corbyn project, here is a rivetingly well-written view from inside the left’s capture of the Labour party.’
Polly Toynbee, Guardian columnist
‘Michael Chessum provides not just a necessary hard-nosed assessment of the Corbyn project from someone who was at the heart of its creation, he also poses the tough challenging questions that need to be addressed for the revival of the left.’
John McDonnell, MP
'This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand where the new left generation came from and where we go from here. Michael Chessum describes the mass movement that underpinned Corbyn’s leadership so richly that from the demonstrations to the committee rooms, you’ll feel like you’re there.'
Nadia Whittome, MP
Eloquent … It is timely stuff.
Times Literary Supplement
Featuring “unparalleled access” and a range of interviews with left-wing figures including Owen Jones, Ash Sarkar and John McDonnell MP, this is the inside story of how the Left came back to life in the 2010s, and what it can (and should) do now.
The Bookseller
A member of Momentum’s first steering committee and general figure in the rooms where it happened, Chessum is an able guide through the tumultuous period covered by the book.
Renewal
An essential read.
Open Labour
'A fascinating insider’s assessment of the rise and impasse of the latest new left that gained political expression, but not realisation, through Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party. At once both controversial and sympathetic , it is essential reading for creative strategic thinking in the future.'
Hilary Wainwright, author of ‘A New Politics From the Left’
With a lively combination of vivid first-hand reportage, insightful interviews and original analysis, This is Only the Beginning offers the most compelling account to date of the movements and circumstances that made the Corbyn moment possible, and of what needs to happen for the radical left to thrive rather than slip back into irrelevance.
Professor Jeremy Gilbert, University of East London, UK
A clear-eyed and compelling contribution to the post-mortem of the Corbyn era, this is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the movement that provided so much of the energy behind Corbyn's rise.
Gabriel Podrund, co-author of 'Left Out'
Hugely impressive … full of depth … this is a read the left needs right now.
Philosophy Football
The story of the rise of a new left in British politics, from a leading figure in the anti-Brexit Another Europe is Possible (AEIP), is not a Court History of the Corbyn Project. It offers a picture of the movements and ‘politics from below’ that propelled the left to leadership of the Labour Party.
The Chartist
Packed full of detailed information … written in a pacy style … [and] something of a page turner … [It] is essential reading for anyone on the left who wants to understand why the Corbyn project failed and the lessons to be drawn so that the vital and urgently needed new movement does not repeat the errors made.
Anti-capitalist Resistance

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