Des Wilson’s career achievements include: the founding of the influential homeless charity Shelter; receiving the 1989 ITN award as environmentalist of the decade; being a member of the English Cricket Board. As well as being the author of fifteen books and a journalist, public speaker, and radio and television personality, he found time to actively engage in two life-long interests, in his younger years to play cricket, and in later years to play poker. Des Wilson’s compelling memoirs, published to coincide with his 70th birthday in March 2011, will fascinate those who remember his many dynamic campaigns for social justice. They should also excite and inspire a younger generation who will discover, by reading one man’s story, just how much ordinary citizens can achieve if they decide to fight political dereliction, bureaucratic bullying, and corporate greed. The philosophies and practical strategies that helped change Britain are just as relevant today. So is his revealing account – as one of its ‘founders’ – of how the Liberal Democrats came about and how the party has developed. His intriguing history of that party and his discussion of the emergence of a coalition will enliven the current political debate.