In 2017, British politics experienced upheaval on an unprecedented scale. Labour saw the biggest increase in support since 1945 and Jeremy Corbyn's leadership posed a radical challenge to the political status quo.
Written by Corbyn's closest aide and most senior adviser, Firestorm lifts the lid on what really took place over five years of continuous political and public conflict: inside and outside the Labour party and parliament; with Conservative governments and foreign states; with an unrelentingly hostile media; and across Britain, as hundreds of thousands joined a movement that seemed to have erupted out of nowhere.
Seumas Milne reveals what was actually said and done, in private as well as public, including during the abortive 2016 political coup against Corbyn, the Labour leader's successful re-election campaign, back-channel negotiations with Theresa May and Boris Johnson, the convulsive battles over Brexit, the running sore of anti-semitism, and Labour's dramatic expansion on the ground - which turned it into the largest political party in western Europe.
Firestorm is a revelatory insider's account of an explosive and controversial period in British politics, spelling out why Corbyn's Labour was ultimately defeated, its key mistakes and successes, its legacy and lessons for the future - but also what it will take for the left to win, and how to overcome the scale of resistance that any radical challenge to the status quo inevitably faces.
