A courageous and exhilirating book, Michael Barratt Brown provides a remarkably honest narrative of his struggles both to live a good life on his own account and to improve the lot of others 'from below upwards' through his work in adult education and Fair Trade. Michael seems to have known almost everyone who mattered. As a child in 1930, he sat on Ghandi's knee. The stories of his loves and friendships give the reader a fascinating insight into the networks of the 20th century intellectual Left.

Fiona MacCarthy
Biographer and cultural historian