‘Clare and Francis Beckett have written a short, thoroughly readable and affordable introduction to Bevan’s life and politics.’ Socialist Review, July/August 2005

This is a biography of Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960). The son of a miner from Monmouthshire, Wales, he became a local miners' trade union leader at only 19, and was elected a Labour MP in 1929. He was one of the few who dared criticise Churchill's leadership during the second World War and to demand government committment to a fairer society. When Labour came to power in 1945 he contributed more than anyone to creating a new society, as the minister responsible for health and for housing. In the 1950s he led the Labour Party left, known as the Bevanites.