Harry Taylor – författare

Steeped in conspiracy, scandal and socialism – the disappearance of radical icon Victor Grayson is a puzzle that’s never been solved. A firebrand and Labour politician who rose to prominence in the early twentieth century, Grayson was idolised by hundreds of thousands of Britons but despised by the establishment. After a tumultuous life, he walked out of his London apartment in September 1920 and was never seen again.After a century, new documents have come to light. Fragments of an unpublished autobiography, letters to his lovers (both men and women), leading political and literary figures including H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw, and testimonies from members of the Labour elite such as Clement Attlee have revealed the real Victor Grayson.  New research has uncovered the true events leading up to his disappearance and suggests that he was actually blackmailed by his former Party.In a time when homosexuality was illegal, and socialism an international threat to capitalism, Grayson was a clear target for those wanting to stamp out dissent. This extraordinary biography reinstates to history a man who laid the foundations for a whole generation of militant socialists in Britain.

Peter Shore worked under Hugh Gaitskell, serving in successive Labour Cabinets under first Harold Wilson and subsequently James Callaghan. He wrote the 1964, 1966 and 1970 general election manifestos for the party and stood in both the 1980 and the 1983 party leadership elections. He would go on to be known as one of the Labour Party's most important thinkers.He had a long political career at the upper levels of the Labour Party and was close to successive leaders. Despite this, he was also independent minded, as evidenced by the 1976 IMF crisis and his long-standing opposition to European integration. As well as this key debate, the authors also address crucial issues within the Labour movement, from macroeconomic management to the extent to which the party can be a force for socialism.This remarkable new study offers a comprehensive and timely reappraisal of the man and his record, examining the context within which he operated, his approach and responses to changing social and economic norms, his opposition to Britain's membership of what is now the EU, and how he was viewed by peers from across the political spectrum. Finally, it examines the overall impact of Peter Shore on the development of British politics.With contributions from leading experts in the fields of political theory, and from Shore's own contemporaries, this book is an important new assessment of one of Labour's most interesting political thinkers in twentieth-century British politics.

‘Told with charm and humour. Anyone who has ever fought with a project in a shed will recognise this tale of wonder and woe!’ – Danny Hopkins, editor of Practical Classics magazine.Harry’s life had been stuck in neutral until he discovered Peggy lying in a field. It then promptly went into reverse. Is Peggy the romantic interest of this story or two tons of automotive scrap metal?Harry’s subsequent restoration project takes us on a journey through a life that has more bumps than the A12 and a cast of eccentric characters who are caught up in the joy of attempting the impossible, just for the sheer love of it.This is the story of one man’s attempt to restore an Austin 1100. Along the way it also becomes the story of one man’s attempt to restore himself; and as anyone who’s ever tried their hand at restoration knows, you can’t rebuild something without taking it apart first.When Harry Met Peggy is for anyone who wants to follow their dream but has forgotten to take out breakdown insurance for it.