A collection of writings and speeches by historian, political activist and former MP Hywel Francis. He celebrates the struggles of the working class of the South Wales Valleys and asks about the continuing relevance of the miners' strikes and the NHS. An essential and inspiring book for all interested in recent Welsh social and general history.

• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 – Making the Road by Talking
• 2 – The Forgotten Strike of 1925
• 3 – The Secret World of the South Wales Miner: The Relevance of Oral History
• 4 – Mining the Popular Front
• 5 – My Community, My Valley: Onllwyn, Cwm Dulais
• 6 – My Club: ‘Magnificent Seven’
• 7 – Communities, Universities and a New Beginning
• 8 – Flying into History
• 9 – A Tribute to Will Lloyd, International Brigader (1914–1986)
• 10 – A Tribute to Eirie Pugh, sister of an International Brigader (1919–1993)
• 11 – ‘Say Nothing and Leave in the Middle of the Night’: The Spanish Civil War Revisited
• 12 – A Celebration of the Life of Espe: Esperanza Careaga James (1931– 2004)‘A life of hope, in the Basque Country and Wales’
• 13 – Paul Robeson: His Legacy for Wales
• 14 – The Fate of our Community: ‘Iwerddon 1916, Rwsia 1917, Cymru?’[Aberystwyth graffiti, 1978]
• 15 – ‘Sam’s Bill’: ‘The Right to an Ordinary Life’
• 16 – Remembering Richard Burton
• 17 – ‘Joe Bach’ and the Holocaust
• 18 – London and the Miners’ Strikes of the Twentieth Century
• 19 – David Carpanini: 1969, ‘The Cape’ and the Last Smiling Shift
• 20 – Democratic Devolution – An Opportunity not a Problem for Human Rights
• 21 – The Hope for a Compassionate Country