great read, worth it for the vividly realised account of her childhood alone, which is up there in terms of any writing on the subject i've ever come across. i can see why the book is so hard to find and the author hasn't put out a re-print, there's a lot here in the way of forecasts of working-class unity that were not quite borne out, but as a document of people's democracy's foundation and limitations, unsurpassed