An English translation of ‘Briefe und Gespräche’ has been a long time in coming, nearly fifty years since Brandt, Kreisky and Palme met in Vienna in 1975 and their letters and conversations since 1972 were published in German on behalf of the Brandt archives.

There have been translations into many other European languages in the meantime, but this is the first English one – published here alongside the German text.

Many of the issues they discussed remain critical today, including:

– the balance between the growth agenda and environmental degradation

– the scope for public transport

– a wider definition of GDP that includes well-being

– combined aid to developing countries and mutual links with eastern Europe

as well as politics and economics more generally.

A key work of European democratic socialism