Writers and Politics

Arguably Conor Cruise O'Brien's most influential and admired book was this brilliant collection of essays – on history, literature and public affairs – first published in 1965. 'I can still remember the excitement with which I discovered a copy of Writers and Politics, in a provincial library in Devonshire thirty years ago. Nobody who tries to write about either of those subjects, or about «the bloody crossroads» where they have so often met, can disown a debt to the Cruiser.' Christopher Hitchens, London Review of Books'When a liberal can write such pieces as «Mercy and Mercenaries», «Journal de Combat», «Varieties of Anti-Communism», «A New Yorker Critic», and «Generation of Saints», an important voice has returned to our culture.' Raymond Williams,Guardian