Willie Thompson is Reader in Contemporary History at Glasgow Caledonian University. He was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain from 1962 until its disbandment in 1991 and, in the 1980s, a member of the editorial board of Marxism Today. He now edits Socialist History, the journal of one of the Communist Party's successor organizations, the Socialist History Society. His previous books include The Long Death of British Labourism (1993) and The Left in History: Revolution and Reform in Twentieth Century Politics (1997).

• Introduction. 1. The Movement's Turning Point.2. Cold War and Colonial Revolution.3. Destalinisation.4.'Peaceful Co-Existence' and Schism.5. Orthodox Communism 1963-1970.6. Indian Summer 1970-1981.7. The Amazed Evangelist.Biographical Notes.Chronology.Bibliography.Index.Maps.