How does New Labour compare with old Labour? What can we learn about the current Government by looking at its predecessor? How does New Labour interpret the record of old Labour in power?

We are constantly told that New Labour forms an historic departure from the traditions of the Labour Party. This book, written by a distinguished selection of academics and commentators, provides the most detailed comparison yet of old and new Labour in power. It is also the first to offer a comprehensive analysis of the last Labour Government before the rise of Thatcher and the re-emergence of the Labour Party under Tony Blair's leadership. It reveals much about the history of the Labour Party as well as providing a much-needed context from which to judge the current government.

Contributors include: Vernon Bogdanor, Raymond Plant, Jim Tomlinson, Robert Taylor, Polly Toynbee, David Walker, Roy Lowe, John W Young, Ann Lane, Chris Ballinger, Philip Norton, Kevin Theakston, Ed Gouge, Dilys M Hill, Brendan O'Leary, Eric Shaw, Steven Fielding, Stuart Holland, Kenneth O Morgan, Peter Riddell, Robert Skidelsky and Dennis Kavanagh. They compare all the key aspects of the political thought and policy of the Wilson-Callaghan Government of 1979 with the Blair Government making this book essential reading for all of those interested in how Labour, both past and present, governs.