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This Land

The Story of a Movement

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This Land

By: Owen Jones
Narrated by: Owen Jones
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The number one best-selling author of Chavs and The Establishment returns with an urgent, revelatory account of where the left - and Britain - goes next.

On 12th December 2019, the left died. That at least was the view of much of Britain's media and political establishment, who saw the electoral defeat of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party as the damning repudiation of everything it stood for.

Yet, just over four years previously, the election of Corbyn as Labour leader seemed like a sea-change in politics: reanimating not just a party in apparently terminal decline but a country adrift, with a transformative vision based on a more just, more equal society and economy.

In this revelatory new book, Owen Jones explores how these ideas took hold, how they promised to change the nature of British politics - and how everything then went profoundly, catastrophically wrong. Why did the left fail so badly? Where, in this most critical of times, does that failure leave its values and ideas? Where does it leave Britain itself?

©2020 Owen Jones (P)2020 Penguin Audio Elections & Political Process Europe Great Britain Politics & Government Thought-Provoking

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Owen Jones has a nice voice that makes for easy listening, and he sets our the strengths and weaknesses of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn well. He also walks the listener through the different challenges the party faced.

Good recent history of the Labour Party

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a worthwhile read for all sides of the corbyn debate and for those looking to make a better society.

Great read

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A great look into the Labour Party over the last 5 years, deeply thought provoking and insightful view on the story

Fantastic

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This was a really well explained autopsy of Corbynism and why it failed. I am still confused where some people get their negative opinions of Corbyn, but this book revealed some very disappointing truths about how unsuitable he was to sit in the driving seat of a political party - but I think his failings as a party leader are what probably make him a fantastic MP and activist.

I lost count of how many times Owen said "much to their chagrin"

One of the bleakest things I've ever listened to

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A fantastic book, well written, uncomfortable at times given the disappointment of the last election, but wonderfully articulated and essential reading if we are to learn from past mistakes. A well balanced, in-depth analysis of how we got here, and what we need to do.

The hard truth, the bitter but essential medicine

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How could the Labour Party be so self destructive and throw away our best opportunity to end the tyranny of the Tories and make a real change for the better for our country and the world? Definitely a vital book for anyone interested in politics to read. This is about how we launched ourselves into the shit creek and threw away the only means of propulsion and control!

Utterly depressing

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Really enjoyed listening to this audio book. I thought it was a well thought out post analysis of the Labour movement with some hard truths which at times were difficult to stomach, but necessary to talk about.

Insightful and entertaining read

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I'm so glad I listened to this book, probably the best purchase I've made this year, its a must listen for anyone wanting to understand labour when Jeremy was leader, very enlightening.

Very eye opening.

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This book has arguably the least informative or arousing title of any book published in the last century. It is NOT, as critics have suggested, a study of the the way Owen Jones's bowels work.

But anybody, on the right or the left, struggling to make sense of the current state of British politics should read or listen to this articulate and probing analysis of the rise and fall of Jeremy Corbyn. Jones writes with clarity and energy and has inside and extensive knowledge of the whole process and is one of the few journalists not blinkered by dogma or self-interest. His criticisms of Corbyn and the Labour machinery are detailed, fair but withering: the failure was a collective squandering of a huge opportunity to redress the balance of power in Britain between the wealthy few and the disadvantaged many, to build upon an enormous surge of youthful enthusiasm for practical politics. Labour lost the last election largely because so many Labour party MPs and practically the whole of the British press, including the BBC, actively worked to prevent a Corbyn victory but also because Corbyn and his advisors were serially disorganised, lazy, conflicted and confused. There was NO collective hunger to assume power by people far happier as armchair pundits. Sadly nobody but John Macdonald emerges well from this story of collective incompetence.

What emerges is that there is a huge public thirst for radical change: Climate Change, the rise of unaccountable Oligarchs, the cruelties of Austerity, the lack of investment in public services have created a climate where everyone realises that current politics is broken. But people need leadership, someone with the intellect, energy. communication skills and selflessness to inspire and effectively manage a massive change in the way things are organised. And what is missing everywhere in Britain today, on the right and on the left, is anybody who might provide that.

Essential Reading! Silly Title.

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Not as good as his previous book, part 1 was very strong but I think part 2 could have done with more editing, the Brexit and antisemitism chapters both felt a little disorganised. The book rallies for a good finish with the conclusion.

Interesting view

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