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themorsecode's review against another edition
4.0
Rounding up from 3.5. Jones covers Labour's Corbyn in a very readable, journalistic style and he has a number of close contacts in the party - indeed, with his links to John McDonnell he was in the room for some major events.
It's clear that Corbyn is a decent man, completely ill-suited for leading a political party and surrounded by people not equipped to run a 21st Century campaign - not helped by several members of the PLP and HQ actively wanting Corbyn to fail. Indeed from my own limited experience campaigning for the Labour Party, it always seemed chaotic and badly focused - endless volunteer's goodwill and time misdirected and squandered.
I don't know if there will ever be a definitive book of this period, with the factionalism making an even-handed account difficult but this is as probably as close to it as there will be. I don't agree with Jones that McDonnell would have been a better leader, he would have been hamstrung by the exact same obstacles as Corbyn both internally and externally, but certainly agree that Brexit did in Labour's terrible 2019 campaign.
It's clear that Corbyn is a decent man, completely ill-suited for leading a political party and surrounded by people not equipped to run a 21st Century campaign - not helped by several members of the PLP and HQ actively wanting Corbyn to fail. Indeed from my own limited experience campaigning for the Labour Party, it always seemed chaotic and badly focused - endless volunteer's goodwill and time misdirected and squandered.
I don't know if there will ever be a definitive book of this period, with the factionalism making an even-handed account difficult but this is as probably as close to it as there will be. I don't agree with Jones that McDonnell would have been a better leader, he would have been hamstrung by the exact same obstacles as Corbyn both internally and externally, but certainly agree that Brexit did in Labour's terrible 2019 campaign.
libraryofcalliope's review against another edition
3.0
Owen Jones' new book, This Land: The Story of a Movement, is an overview of the events of the last decade in the left political landscape with a particular focus on the Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party. I joined the Labour Party in 2015, part of the huge amount of members who joined after being inspired by Jeremy Corbyn and his vision, and as of 2020, I have since left. My decision to leave was due to several factors all of which I won't detail here. I was generally quite well versed in the events Jones covers in this book and it is definitely a good overview of the major events that took place over the last few years. His analysis of things like Momentum's social media campaign was excellent and provided worthwhile insight into their successes and how that played into overall the successes in the 2017 General Election. He interviews and talks to several key people which is interesting and focuses on a kind of behind the scenes' depiction of events.
Unfortunately, I felt that his analysis was not consistent. He was pushing a particular angle; that John McDonnell would have done a better job; and that coloured the whole book, "it is a tragedy for the left that John McDonnell, long the Labour left's natural figurehead, never assumed the leadership". While everything that went wrong for 'the Corbyn project' was directly Corbyn's fault, everything that went right was attributed to somebody else. The book feels like a long-form justification for Owen Jones' own flip-flopping in regards to his support of the Labour leader. Jones couldn't remove himself from the narrative. While I understand that he was present for a lot of the things he discusses and disclosing that involvement is important, it felt more like he was trying to portray himself as a Cassandra type. It's useful having insight from those in the room when it happened but at times it felt more like he was trying to brag about how important he is rather than providing any real insight.
Regarding critical analysis, Jones provided a rather inconsistent narrative. For example, he would discuss the various studies that demonstrated that media coverage of Corbyn was overwhelmingly misrepresentative and negative but then wouldn't use this to create any sort of analysis of what impact this may have had. He talks to people who complain that "'He refused to play the game, he refused to do media trainings. He just felt it'd be selling out, that he wanted to be himself."' but in another section, he discusses Corbyn's "affable, zen-like demeanour on television. [Which allowed] Viewers [to] see the contrast between his media image- dangerous terrorist-loving extremist- and a reality which seemed poles apart". By having this in different parts, the overall cohesion comes across as inconsistent and incoherent. Which is he? Is he a zen-like figure who can win people over by being himself or is it a bad thing that he wouldn't 'play the game'? This happens with many things. One minute Jones is discussing how Corbyn couldn't commit to anything out of worry of upsetting people then he's being resolutely dogmatic about his principles. He discusses how Corbyn's policies inspired people and then claims "nobody in the office seemed to understand what policy was for". As an analysis, it didn't make sense and seemed like a series of different newspaper articles copied and pasted together. This could have been fixed if he responded to his sources. He presents them all unchallenged, meaning he doesn't question what they say when they contradict each other which if he had would have vastly improved the book.
Considering the subtitle of the book, The Story of a Movement, it is much more focused on the parliamentary Labour party and the Labour Party establishment rather than the members. He, of course, mentions the huge numbers of people who joined the party and Corbyn's incredible mandates in both leadership elections, but his interviewees are generally those working in Labour HQ or members of the press. In a topic such as this, the people outside of HQ need to be considered as well, rather than as an afterthought or as a statistic to prove a point.
I wanted to like this book and as an overview of the events, it is a good starting point. It just wasn't as good as some of his other works.
Unfortunately, I felt that his analysis was not consistent. He was pushing a particular angle; that John McDonnell would have done a better job; and that coloured the whole book, "it is a tragedy for the left that John McDonnell, long the Labour left's natural figurehead, never assumed the leadership". While everything that went wrong for 'the Corbyn project' was directly Corbyn's fault, everything that went right was attributed to somebody else. The book feels like a long-form justification for Owen Jones' own flip-flopping in regards to his support of the Labour leader. Jones couldn't remove himself from the narrative. While I understand that he was present for a lot of the things he discusses and disclosing that involvement is important, it felt more like he was trying to portray himself as a Cassandra type. It's useful having insight from those in the room when it happened but at times it felt more like he was trying to brag about how important he is rather than providing any real insight.
Regarding critical analysis, Jones provided a rather inconsistent narrative. For example, he would discuss the various studies that demonstrated that media coverage of Corbyn was overwhelmingly misrepresentative and negative but then wouldn't use this to create any sort of analysis of what impact this may have had. He talks to people who complain that "'He refused to play the game, he refused to do media trainings. He just felt it'd be selling out, that he wanted to be himself."' but in another section, he discusses Corbyn's "affable, zen-like demeanour on television. [Which allowed] Viewers [to] see the contrast between his media image- dangerous terrorist-loving extremist- and a reality which seemed poles apart". By having this in different parts, the overall cohesion comes across as inconsistent and incoherent. Which is he? Is he a zen-like figure who can win people over by being himself or is it a bad thing that he wouldn't 'play the game'? This happens with many things. One minute Jones is discussing how Corbyn couldn't commit to anything out of worry of upsetting people then he's being resolutely dogmatic about his principles. He discusses how Corbyn's policies inspired people and then claims "nobody in the office seemed to understand what policy was for". As an analysis, it didn't make sense and seemed like a series of different newspaper articles copied and pasted together. This could have been fixed if he responded to his sources. He presents them all unchallenged, meaning he doesn't question what they say when they contradict each other which if he had would have vastly improved the book.
Considering the subtitle of the book, The Story of a Movement, it is much more focused on the parliamentary Labour party and the Labour Party establishment rather than the members. He, of course, mentions the huge numbers of people who joined the party and Corbyn's incredible mandates in both leadership elections, but his interviewees are generally those working in Labour HQ or members of the press. In a topic such as this, the people outside of HQ need to be considered as well, rather than as an afterthought or as a statistic to prove a point.
I wanted to like this book and as an overview of the events, it is a good starting point. It just wasn't as good as some of his other works.
georgiaswad's review against another edition
5.0
brilliant - jones is the eloquent constructive critic so desperately needed so often in left wing circles; ‘this land’ is a triumph that illustrates the entire rise and fall of the corbyn campaign from an intelligent, compassionate and consistently impartial author. if more journalists were like owen jones i have no doubt we would already be living in a better and fairer society that exists for the many, not the few.
“Can we, together, build a new society free from such ills? This was the hope of Corbynism and the many who embraced it. Those of us who continue to believe so must learn from the successes and defeats, gains and mistakes of that time. Learning such lessons does not mean abandoning a commitment to building a new society which focuses on human needs and aspirations, or surrendering to the political pessimism of tinkering around the edges and attempting to put an acceptable face on continued injustice. On the contrary. Leaming such lessons shows that we are serious about building a new world.
With so much injustice coexisting with limitless human potential, building a new world isn't a utopian dream, a self-indulgent fantasy.
It is the only hope for humanity.”
“Can we, together, build a new society free from such ills? This was the hope of Corbynism and the many who embraced it. Those of us who continue to believe so must learn from the successes and defeats, gains and mistakes of that time. Learning such lessons does not mean abandoning a commitment to building a new society which focuses on human needs and aspirations, or surrendering to the political pessimism of tinkering around the edges and attempting to put an acceptable face on continued injustice. On the contrary. Leaming such lessons shows that we are serious about building a new world.
With so much injustice coexisting with limitless human potential, building a new world isn't a utopian dream, a self-indulgent fantasy.
It is the only hope for humanity.”
charlotte_rhea's review
2.0
Did expect this to just be a love letter to Jeremy but there was some criticism which was good. Overall just makes me think Jeremy would have been a useless prime minister
iksme's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
A clear dissection of the events and trials of Jeremy Corbyn's time as Labour leader, told from a leftist perspective, counteracting the overpowering narrative of the right-wing media in this country
jeremiglio's review against another edition
3.0
Oh dear.
We all knew there was a conspiracy to stop a socialist Labour victory, but having it confirmed like this still hurts. I had already cancelled my party membership, but this made me want to cancel it again and send 100 angry emails to party HQ, too.
This is an honest look at the rise and fall of Corbynism, and it took a while to get through purely because it made me so profoundly sad. The leadership was flawed and made mistakes, yes, but so much of what happened was due to outside forces, including the media and the party machinery, manipulating and sabotaging it - we really, truly could have lived in the country envisioned in the 2019 manifesto. And now look.
Oh god, I'm getting angry again.
We all knew there was a conspiracy to stop a socialist Labour victory, but having it confirmed like this still hurts. I had already cancelled my party membership, but this made me want to cancel it again and send 100 angry emails to party HQ, too.
This is an honest look at the rise and fall of Corbynism, and it took a while to get through purely because it made me so profoundly sad. The leadership was flawed and made mistakes, yes, but so much of what happened was due to outside forces, including the media and the party machinery, manipulating and sabotaging it - we really, truly could have lived in the country envisioned in the 2019 manifesto. And now look.
Oh god, I'm getting angry again.
maxramsay's review against another edition
5.0
I still find any talk about the 2019 election deeply and emotionally raw. For the last 10 months I have largely avoided politics in attempt to heal my mental wounds the result inflicted upon me. So naturally, the biggest criticism I have of this book is that it end on such a downer, though obviously, this isn’t Jones' fault.
I couldn’t have asked for a more honest and forthright take on the Corbyn leadership. Yes, he was ruthlessly and unfairly picked apart and outright slandered by the tax-avoiding billionaire press we have in this country. But guess what, in many ways, outside of campaigning, Corbyn was a bit of a shite leader. Politically he's very close to where I am, but he's also incredibly indecisive, lacked any sense of grand strategy and could not deal with meaningful confrontation. This is largely in part as Corbyn accidentally won the Labour leadership and sadly you need to be a bit of a bastard to lead a successful party.
Regardless, my review can’t do this book justice in assessing what happened and what needs to be done.
I couldn’t have asked for a more honest and forthright take on the Corbyn leadership. Yes, he was ruthlessly and unfairly picked apart and outright slandered by the tax-avoiding billionaire press we have in this country. But guess what, in many ways, outside of campaigning, Corbyn was a bit of a shite leader. Politically he's very close to where I am, but he's also incredibly indecisive, lacked any sense of grand strategy and could not deal with meaningful confrontation. This is largely in part as Corbyn accidentally won the Labour leadership and sadly you need to be a bit of a bastard to lead a successful party.
Regardless, my review can’t do this book justice in assessing what happened and what needs to be done.