This book provides a comparative analysis of how two radical left parties achieved government participation and their subsequent political experiences. In the face of the most severe and most prolonged crisis in the history of capitalism, it would be expected for radical left parties to seize the opportunity to promote their political agenda. Although reality has often confounded prognosis, two particular radical left parties - the Greek SYRIZA and the Cypriot AKEL - were elected to the highest government office. The author uses these two examples to engage with the broader question of what to expect when left-wing radicals achieve governance. This question is now of particular importance given the emergence of radical leftists in other parts of Europe, including Corbyn in the UK and Podemos in Spain. 

Yiannos Katsourides  is Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cyprus. He has also taught at theEuropean University Cyprus. His previous book,  The History of the Communist Party in Cyprus: Colonialism, Class and the Cypriot Left , was published in July 2014. Dr Katsourides has been awarded fellowships from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies of the University of London and the Hellenic Observatory of the London School of Economics.