How I've Tried to Change the World

By Walking Down the Middle of the Street Shouting
Lifelong socialist and comedy legend Alexei Sayle reflects on his life on the Left through a history of key marches over the past seven decades, and asks what we can learn from protest and standing up to power

PRE-ORDER the new book from Alexei Sayle: lifelong socialist, '80s comedy legend, bestselling writer and TikTok's favourite Marxist Explainer

So, this is the story I wish to tell, the story of the Left and the world it tried and is trying to change, a struggle that I have been involved in my whole lifetime.

'For years, we have wondered where exactly did Alexei Sayle's outbursts come from. Finally, right here, he reveals the secret to his exploding brain' - Michael Rosen

Born in working-class Liverpool in 1952 to devoted members of the British Communist Party, Alexei Sayle has spent a lifetime walking down the middle of the street shouting.

How I've Tried to Change the World is a memoir of his life on the Left, covering seven decades of social history told through key marches and rallies. From the demonstrations against the Vietnam War in 1969 and the first Miners' strike in 1974, to the demonstration against the 2003 Iraq invasion and the recent marches in support of Gaza, Sayle traces the enduring struggle for a better, fairer world. He explores Left ideas, why they matter and why it's still worth taking them seriously.

Along the way, we encounter The Other Alexei (a bitter, retired media studies lecturer from Clitheroe Polytechnic), his imaginary daughter Tanita, and learn how a Samurai philosophy called Bushidō can teach us how to behave at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Eye-wateringly funny, unexpectedly moving and unashamedly polemical, this is a one-of-a-kind chronicle of defiance and belief: a story of one man's refusal to stay on the pavement.

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