YEARS OF HOPE is a kind of 'prequel' to the published series of DIARIES, and will cover fully the peerage renunciation, as well as revealing his early career, touching on schooldays, RAF service during the war, early involvement with politics etc. As a young man he had dealings with Atlee, Bevan, Morrison, Gaitskill and all the major politicians of the post-war Labour Government. This book will be more personal than earlier volumes and will draw on letters and other documents as well as the DIARIES themselves. It will reveal the extraordinary consistency of Benn's political views, as well as showing how he came to acquire them.