I think this book and its argument varies wildly in quality, exacerbated by the author's (perhaps too colloquial) tangents at points. His conclusions, which I mostly strongly agree with, are occasionally more personally- than evidentially-informed. Having said that, Swift's insights are incisive and necessary, and when he isn't (so to speak) "shooting fish in a barrel" (for example in the chapter on "Women's Activism" and "Patriotism"), he provides genuinely envelope-pushing and sharp-witted critiques on the modern left - with particular highlights being his analysis of the "Israel/Palestine" debate and the penultimate chapter "Cultural Elitism". Swift is clearly at his best when his arguments are rooted in sources from the history of the left, and identifying problems that have *long* plagued it - and is, in my opinion, a stronger historian than polemicist.