Citizenship, both the subject and the practice, should be a bridge between the vocational aims of education and education for its own sake. Not all of life is productive: there is leisure, there is culture, both of which active citizens can defend, indeed enhance. This book may, I hope, help teachers and all involved in education (governors, parents and even inspectors) gain or reinforce a sense of civic pride and mission.

Bernard Crick's mastery of the political essay is matched by few, if any, modern political writers. This new collection demonstrates the wide range of his writing with characteristically bold, argumentative and witty pieces on British identity, on the Northern Irish peace process, on New Labour, on Shaw, Berlin, Laski and Arendt, and on the present state of political writing. It will enlighten, provoke and amuse readers keen to engage with political ideas and arguments current at the turn of the millennium.

Citizenship, both the subject and the practice, should be a bridge between the vocational aims of education and education for its own sake. Not all of life is productive: there is leisure, there is culture, both of which active citizens can defend, indeed enhance. This book may, I hope, help teachers and all involved in education (governors, parents and even inspectors) gain or reinforce a sense of civic pride and mission.>