After failing his 11-plus and leaving school at 16, Geoff Andrews worked for several years before taking up a place at Ruskin College and entering higher education. He has spent most of his time since in adult education, teaching for The Open University and Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education. He is the author of several books on twentieth century British history, including three political biographies, and has written widely on the left and labour movement for Prospect, the New Statesman and Marxism Today.