“To me and my comrades this was the proletarian army, forerunner of the great Red Army which Britain would one day boast.” As a 17 year old in 1928, Douglas Arnold Hyde was considering joining the Methodist ministry when he heard the Welsh miner, Lewis Jones, speak about his experiences in the General Strike. Deeply impressed by Jones’ political stance, young Douglas joined the Communist Party of Great Britain. Douglas Hyde remained in the Communist party for 20 years, and was the news editor of the Daily Worker for a time, until disillusionment with the Soviet Union's post-war foreign policy led him to resign his membership in 1949. Hyde then joined the Catholic Church, and became an outspoken opponent of his former comrades, in particular the cold "steel-hardened cadre" of the leadership. In 1951 he published I Believed, which is a fascinating insider’s account of his Communist years. It was an instant success, selling over one million copies in its first ten years of publication.  Published by Pan Books in 1953. Good condition. Binding intact.