Available in paperback for the first time, Gareth Griffith's book provides a comprehensive critical account of the political ideas of one of the most influential commentators of the 20th century. With close reference to a range of Shaw's text's, from the Fabian tracts to the plays, Griffith draws out the central theoretical messages of Shaw's engagement with politics. The first part of the book provides an intellectual biography, while at the same time analyzing Shaw's key concerns in relation to his Fabianism, arguments for equality of income and ideas on democracy and education. Part Two looks at those areas which Shaw approached as long-standing historical problems or dramas requiring immediate thought or action: sexual equality, the Irish question, war, fascism and Sovietism. "The Political Thought of George" "Bernard Shaw" is directed to the general reader as well as to specialists. It will be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Shaw's life, his literary and political writings, the development of political thinking in this century or the problems and potential inherent in socialism.