This volume reveals how a fledgling Fabian journal came to play a key role in the growth of the modern Labour Party. The author compares its first journalists with later generations of editors and writers and rediscovers the early, and lasting, importance of the British Left's best-known magazine.

Political Studies- "...cleverly integrates the intellectual flavour of the early Labour Party with that of the then developing New Statesman."
Albion- "Smith writes well, and his concise, epigrammatic prose enlivens the book enormously."
English Historical Review- "Smith"s account is generally authoritative and engagingly written."
New Statesman and Society- " an illuminating- and surprisingly entertaining- book"
The Financial Times- " Adrian Smith aims to "rehabilitate:" the pre-Martin New Statesman and he makes a good job of it"
The Times Higher Education Supplement- " a lucid, readable book"
Choice-" Those who appreciate a clear, perceptive, and meticulously crafted book will applaud Smith"s work