'Brilliant study of neo-Nazi anti-Semitism ... Gillian Freeman is among the finest contemporary novelists.' - Brigid Brophy, "New Statesman"
'Undoubtedly the best of her novels ... an exact and finely observed account of the lunatic right-wing fringe in Britain. I recommend this very strongly.' - "Oxford Mail"
'Gillian Freeman's perception of psychological and sociological drives is combined with an ability to communicate them in suspenseful entertainments.... The implications grip the imagination.' - "Kirkus Reviews"
'Horrifying reconstruction of how a new Hitler might arise.' - "Times Literary Supplement"
Vincent Wright is a failure. Now in his mid-thirties, he's stuck in a dead-end job as a bank clerk and still lives with his mother. But he knows who is to blame for the shortcomings in his life: blacks, Jews, and immigrants, who are responsible for most of what's wrong with Britain today. After meeting a retired army officer who shares his passion for collecting Nazi paraphernalia, Vincent has a brilliant idea: the nation needs a new leader to rescue it from its decline - why not him? As he travels the country, giving speeches and using his charisma and oratorical gifts to recruit like-minded followers to his new Britain First party, we watch in horror while Vincent begins his terrifying and seemingly inexorable rise to power....
With the recent surge in popularity of far-right political parties across Europe, Gillian Freeman's sixth novel, "The Leader" (1965), remains as chillingly relevant today as when first published. This edition, the first in more than 40 years, includes a new introduction by Alwyn W. Turner. Freeman's classics "The Liberty Man" (1955) and "The Leather Boys" (1961) are also available from Valancourt Books.

'Gillian Freeman is among the finest contemporary novelists.' - Brigid Brophy, "New Statesman"
'Realistic and unsentimental ... Their relationship is handled with delicacy and has an authentic ring.' - "Sunday Telegraph"
' S]ober and scrupulously documented ... accurately and touchingly demonstrates the unselfconscious and comparatively guiltless love which working-class men often feel for each other.' - "Time and Tide"
Dick and Reggie are 'leather boys', working-class London teens with an affinity for leather jackets and motorcycles who become friends through their involvement in a gang. For Dick, the money he gets from the gang's thefts helps to support his ailing grandmother; for Reggie, membership in the gang provides relief from an unhappy home life and a loveless marriage. When Reggie decides to leave his unfaithful wife and move in with Dick, the two soon discover their feelings for each other are much stronger than mere friendship. As they make plans for their future together, will they find the happiness they seek, or is their love doomed to end in tragedy?
The first novel to offer an authentic portrayal of love between ordinary, working-class young men, Gillian Freeman's "The Leather Boys" (1961) is a groundbreaking classic of gay fiction that remains moving and compelling today. This edition includes a new introduction by Michael Arditti, who situates "The Leather Boys" alongside other early gay works by women writers like Mary Renault and Marguerite Yourcenar and argues that Freeman's novel and its 1964 film adaptation played a vital part in liberalizing British attitudes towards homosexuality.