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    3. How I've Tried to Change the World

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    How I've Tried to Change the World: By Walking Down the Middle of the Street Shouting

    Alexei Sayle

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    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. . .

    'I love Alexei, I love his comedy and I love this book. What more can I say? Marvellous' LEE MACK

    '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 Bushido 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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    Alexei Sayle

    Alexei Sayle is a comedian, writer, actor and presenter. In 1979 he became the first MC of the original Comedy Store in Soho and went on to be a central figure in the Alternative Comedy movement of the early 1980s. On TV he starred in and wrote for The Young Ones, Alexei Sayle's Stuff and The Comic Strip Presents. On radio Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar is now approaching its sixth series. He has written many books including two bestselling volumes of memoir and in 2025 his TikTok videos which fuse interpretive dance with Marxism went viral and are now approaching thirteen million views worldwide. He is also the host of The Alexei Sayle Podcast: @alexeisaylepod

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