Few, if any, contemporary political writers can match Bernard Crick's mastery of the political essay. This collection demonstrates the vast range of his reading and writing with sparkling, pithy, erudite and witty pieces on British identity, on the Northern Irish peace process, on New Labour, on Shaw, Berlin, Laski and Arendt, and on the present (deplorable) state of political writing. Crossing Borders provides overwhelming evidence that important ideas and arguments can and most certainly should be expressed to be accessible and enlightening to the intelligent, non-specialist reader.