Micah Sifry is one of the most respected journalists on the left, and in Spoiling for a Fight, he takes on a number of major political concerns. The ramifications of an opening of third party politics in the United States for the UK and the European Community are tremendous. Sifry examines the successes and excesses of the movements to find out if the people who really believe in the future of democracy have a chance of changing the system.

Combining the close-in, personal reporting and learned analysis one can only get by covering this beat for years, Micah L. Sifry's Spoiling for a Fight exposes both the unfair obstacles and the viable opportunities facing today's leading independent parties. In this energetic chronicle of a defiant community on the move, Micah L. Sifry covers the political spectrum-from the victorious campaigns of Jesse Ventura and New Mexico Green party candidates to the less successful runs of Ross Perot and Ralph Nader-revealing along the way all the achievements and shortcomings of the remarkable recent third-party movements of the left, right, and centre.